Dominoes
by tayababy
Summary: The family's status quo hasn't changed for a while, until one bullet brings relationships to attention, and another few bullets influence a few major decisions. H/P, JJ/Ro, M/G. The beginning of a series, with its own universe. Updated with Chapter 11 7/7
1. Chapter 1

Criminal Minds – Dominoes

_This is the second story in a trilogy that first began with 'Little Wonders'. The dominoes begin to fall after one case ends badly and Strauss decides to actually acknowledge their marriage. This begins about six months after the end of 'Little Wonders'._

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, and I wrote this before I even saw 100.**_

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_Chapter 1 (March 2012)_

The four of them had been separated by Metro PD as soon as they pulled up at the hospital; once they were assured the other two had been taken care of by the medical professionals, the locals started to take the statements of what had just happened.

_Rossi_

"It all happened so quickly, I don't think anyone really knew what was going on. We were standing in the alley behind the un-sub's house, guns at the ready, waiting for him to come out so we could apprehend him.

"Everyone had a bad feeling about this, especially Emily. We all agreed it was more than likely this would get violent pretty quickly, so the Kevlar's were distributed and worn. It was habit really…"

_Morgan_

"Hotch called out to the suspect, even though we knew he was the un-sub, and we all took up defensive positions so he couldn't escape.

"He came out of the house pointing his gun at us, and that was when I knew it, this situation we were in, was going to end badly.

"He stepped down from the porch onto the concrete so he was level with us, and started to speak…"

_Reid_

"He said 'I know you've come for me, and I won't go quietly,' and that was what he did. You never really expect them to follow through with what they say; normally they act all macho until they're the ones staring down the barrel of a gun and then they face the facts.

"Most of the time, we end things without firing our weapons. Everyone knows how much paperwork comes after firing just one bullet, let alone one from each weapon, but that's what happened anyway…"

_Rossi_

"We watched as he walked closer to us, ignoring Hotch's calls for him to stop, but we all just stood there. We were, naively I'm guessing, hoping that he would either lower his weapon or come close enough for us to overcome him quickly. But that wasn't the case.

"It's never the case.

"He started going on about how these men work too hard, how their jobs are ruining their families, their marriages, how he was saving everyone the trouble of more failed relationships.

"And he said it while looking straight into Hotch's eyes…"

_Morgan_

"Man, I could never do that. Stare right into his eyes and blame him for what I've done, bringing up memories of his dead ex-wife, of his failed marriage like that, but I guess the un-sub knew that about him. I mean, we're all over the news every few months, and if you look hard enough, it's not that hard to find out about our personal lives.

"What shocked me, though, was what happened next…"

_Reid_

"He aimed his gun straight at Hotch and blamed him for making him that way, saying it was Hotch's fault that he committed those murders, that all those lives were lost, which actually isn't true, it can't be true, but you don't care about that.

"What you care about was what happened next…"

_Rossi_

"I remember Emily was standing behind the un-sub; she had a perfect view of what was going on. The un-sub fired three quick rounds straight into Aaron's chest; he was wearing the vest, but he still stumbled back from the force of the shots.

"It was enough to give us reason to shoot at him. Everyone fired a single shot at his torso, not aiming for the heart, as we wanted him alive.

"The thing is, he mush have been really strong, because just after he stumbled, five bullets piercing his upper body, he shot a single round into the man right in front of him…"

_Morgan_

"Obviously, his aim was off, or this could have ended up a lot worse. Hotch was hit in the neck by the bullet, a .22 calibre, and that was when the shit hit the fan, if you'll excuse my French.

"Emily let out this almighty scream, I swear if it was one decibel louder it would have shattered glass, and fired another shot into the un-sub, fatally wounding him. She ran straight to Hotch, her husband, disregarding everything and everyone else around them, except for calling an ambulance.

"I remember she put her hands straight to the bullet would in his neck, trying to apply pressure to keep him from bleeding out, and was almost swearing at him…"

_Reid_

"She said 'Don't you dare die on me, Aaron, you promised you would never leave me. Stay alive for Jack, for Audrey; stay alive for me. Just stay alive.'

"By the time she reached those last few words, her voice had dropped almost to a whisper, but tears were running down her cheeks. In the distance I could hear the sirens and see the flashing lights of the ambulance, and I hoped that he would survive, that he would live to see his family again.

"We've been through so much together, we pretty much are a family, but he needs to live to see his kids grow up.

"He didn't deserve what happened to him. Neither of them did…"

_Emily_

"They took him away in the ambulance, but they wouldn't let me ride with them, even though I'm his wife. Dave brought me here, to George Washington hospital, and I swear the seventeen minutes it took to get here were the longest of my life; far longer than Audrey's birth even.

"When I ran into the ER, covered in Aaron's blood, the nurses were around me instantly. They thought I'd been hurt, it was so funny, but they wouldn't listen, would they. I told them it wasn't my blood, that it was Aaron's blood, but one of them said I was going into shock, that I should be examined.

"I know now I should have listened, but at that moment in time, all I cared about was Aaron. Nobody had told me about him, even though I was all but screaming his damn name! I was almost hysterical, and one of the nurses sedated me and strapped me into this bed to stop me from escaping, or at least that's what the doctor said.

"I wanted to kill him when he walked in and said 'It's for your own good, Mrs Hotchner,' and I swear, if he hadn't strapped me in and drugged me, I would have. I kept screaming for Aaron, and then you guys walked in.

"Now, everyone's in here, just staring at me with sombre looks on their faces. Can you either crack a smile, or give me the bad news already?"

A noise at the door made me look up, and I saw Audrey and Jack's nanny, Amelia, holding a very fussy Audrey in her arms, Jack standing next to her. I heard Amelia argue with the Metro cops, and I needed to deal with it, to be comforted by my children.

"Can someone let my kids in please?" I called out, wanting a hug from the one year old already. "She won't calm down unless you let her in."

I saw Audrey smile as one of them finally let her into my room and Amelia sat her on my bed, and she crawled onto my chest. Jack climbed up next to me and attached himself to my side as usual. My doctor meekly followed them in.

"I'm very happy to inform you, Mrs Hotchner, that your husband has come out of his surgery and is currently in recovery," my doctor said humbly. He was standing next to my bed, on the same side as Jack, and we smiled at him.

"Thank you," was all I could manage to choke out. Even though I was happy, I felt suffocated, all these Metro cops around me, the restraints on my wrists, I just wanted to get out, and I said so.

"Can you let me go, I want to see him," I almost demanded, trying to sit up again. "I want to be able to hug my children, and I want to sit by my husband while he heals."

"I'm sorry Mrs Hotchner, but we need to keep you in here overnight for observation. I can take the restraints off, but because you are currently suffering from shock, I cannot discharge you until I am certain there are no side effects."

I sighed reluctantly. "Fine, but I want to see Aaron first thing in the morning."

I gave him my best death stare, and he agreed, though somewhat grudgingly. I smiled in triumph and rattled my wrists against the side of the bed, hoping he'd get the picture. He did.

_Rossi_

"Is this interview almost over, because I have other places I need to be, like with the rest of my family," I asked, desperate to hurry the cop up. Yes, I knew he had a job to do, but it was their fault they weren't actually at the raid to see what happened first hand.

"Yes, Agent Rossi, you're free to leave now, but someone may be in touch later if we need any more information," my interviewer said, and I was out the door before he could even finish.

Emily's room wasn't that hard to find; it was the only one with a delegation of Metro PD cops outside the door, though none of them looked too concerned. I smiled to myself and pulled out my phone to text JJ; in the rush to follow Aaron, no one had contacted her or Garcia to let them know what was going on.

I was glad when I slipped into the room and saw Emily was sitting up with Audrey in one arm and Jack in the other, Amelia silently hovering at the side of the room.

"Uncle Dave!" Jack exclaimed. "Thank you for bringing mommy to the hospital to save daddy!"

I smiled warmly at my godson and ruffled his hair. "How's Hotch?"

_Reid_

"I have never seen Emily show that much emotion before; not at her wedding, not when Audrey was born or even when she came back to work after leaving the kids for the first time. But when Hotch went down on that concrete and she cried out, I just had this feeling something bad was going to happen…" I stopped suddenly, and the Metro cop looked at me.

I looked towards the corridor and save Rossi walking calmly down the hall, and let out a breath I hadn't even noticed I'd been holding.

"One last question, Doctor Reid," he said, and I turned my attention back to him. "How do you think this will affect the team?"

"Reid?"

I heard my name and turned to see who had called it.

_JJ_

The moment I got the text from Dave, telling me to grab Penelope and meet him at the hospital without any extra details, I knew something bad had happened. Unfortunately for us, being stuck in the office at Quantico, it took over an hour in traffic to reach GW Hospital, the one frequented by our team.

I didn't even need to ask for directions to the room I needed, I just followed the mass of Metro PD cops hovering in one corridor. Penelope never left my side as we approached the room they were watching, and I saw Dave in Emily's room, despite the window being surrounded by uniforms.

"Oh, they're okay," Penelope breathed next to me, and I smiled widely.

"Baby girl? Jayje? What are you doing here?"

Penelope and I turned around as well, someone else having walked up behind us.

_Morgan_

I looked at the cop like he had grown an extra head. "Excuse me? Who told you to ask that question?" I demanded. How would this affect the team my ass, I could smell Strauss's intrusion a mile away.

"Um, I believe the request came from someone named," he looked down to check the name. "Strauss?"

I knew it. I shook my head, stood up, and walked out. I was determined to rescue Reid from his torture then see how Emily was holding up.

I didn't need to walk far, the cops hadn't separated us that much, and I pulled the genius out of his interview before continuing down the hall. After a moment I saw all the uniforms hovering, and two beautifully recognisable women just in front of them.

"Baby girl? Jayje? What are you doing here?" I asked the pair, slipping my arm around Pen's waist and placing a kiss on her temple.

"We got a call from Dave telling us to come down here," JJ said. "He said it was important?"

I nodded. "Things didn't quite go to plan…"

_Rossi_

When I saw Jen walk in, I could breathe a little easier. She made her way over to me and I pulled her into my side, once again glad neither of us were in the hospital bed, or Emily's position. Reid, Morgan and Garcia pushed through the barrier of Metro cops and joined us by the bed, where Emily was being babbled to by Audrey while Jack curled up against her.

"What happened with Hotch?" Reid asked me quietly.

"He made it through surgery, and I'll be able to see him in the morning," Emily interrupted. Her hearing had obviously picked up the question and she answered it. "And then I've been summoned to see Strauss at 10 tomorrow."

* * *

**Please leave a review on the way out...**

**Oh, and by the way, this is the beginning of a long series, one with it's own universe spawned off it. Check out 'Superhero Mom', a prequel to this, mostly fluff.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so the story begins here, told from third person POV. I would totally love it if you would please leave a review on the way out, constructive criticism, anything, just let me know how I'm doing please!**

_Chapter 2 (March 2012)_

The next morning, Emily woke to the sound of nurses bustling loudly in the corridor.

She groaned at the noise and rolled over, pulling slightly on her IV line in her right hand. "Why are you making so much noise?" she mumbled, catching the attention of a nearby nurse.

"I'm sorry, we've just had a few major traumas roll through," she answered. "We're going to need to discharge you early this morning since you were fine overnight."

Emily sighed in relief. Her discharge was processed quickly, and after signing her name a half dozen times, she made her way to her husband's room in the surgical wing of the hospital.

Reaching the doorway to his private room, she stood there for a moment, just looking at him lying in the bed.

"Hey you," he said, slowly opening his eyes. He patted the bed next to him, and she sat there quietly, leaning in to kiss his forehead.

"I'm glad you're alive," she whispered, tears filling up her eyes. "I couldn't handle you dying."

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I couldn't handle you dying either," he confessed. She smiled widely, and they sat in silence, communicating with their eyes.

An hour later, Emily noticed the time, and regrettably had to leave to go to the office.

"Why?" Aaron asked. "I thought the case was over, that there was only paperwork left."

Emily smiled. "I've been summoned to Strauss's office at 10, but I'll call you the moment I get out," she bent down to kiss him again. "Calm down, heal, we need our Unit Chief back as soon as possible, and the kids need their dad."

Aaron smiled weakly, and Emily shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving, I'll be back this afternoon. Be good for the nurses," she teased.

"Yes, mom," he teased in return, and could hear Emily's laughter down the hall as she walked out. He suddenly felt alone, and wished Amelia could bring Jack and Audrey to visit, but knew his energetic children were not conductive to stress-free healing.

Aaron sighed heavily. This was the danger of being shot in the field, and he had to deal with it, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

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"Chief Strauss?" Emily entered the Section Chief's office, closing the door behind her. "You wanted to see me?"

Erin Strauss looked up from her work, and gestured for the agent to sit down. "How are you doing, Emily?"

Emily smiled. "The hospital discharged me this morning, and Aaron is recovering well from his surgery. The doctors are confident he will recover quickly with no lasting damage, and should be back at work within the next three weeks."

Strauss smiled slightly and pulled a file to the top of her pile. "Emily, we've pretty much ignored your relationship with the Unit Chief for the past few years, mostly because you've managed to keep your personal lives out of the office, but last night's actions have blown everything wide open again."

Emily sat in her chair, looking directly at her boss's boss. "What does that mean, ma'am?"

Strauss sighed and took her glasses off, placing them on the paperwork in front of her. "Emily, you're a wonderful agent and an excellent profiler. You have good leadership qualities and bring the best out in anyone you work with. You normally have no problems separating your work and personal lives, and you have great potential within the BAU."

Emily didn't know what she meant, and almost feared what she was insinuating. "You're transferring me out?"

"Not in so many words," Strauss smiled. "SSAIC Jacob Sampson is leaving the FBI and moving to warmer climes with his family, so the Unit Chief position of B Team has become available. The higher ups are pushing for an appointment, and I would like to promote you to the position."

Emily was almost gobsmacked. "You want to promote me?"

The older woman nodded. "You'll be the Unit Chief for the second team, Aaron will still be Unit Chief for the first team; you'll have your own media liaison, all of the teams share Garcia in some respect, and the four other agents presently working for the team are all excellent at their jobs, just nowhere near the level you are at. Technically, you and Aaron will be equals, just working different teams."

"I'll have my own office, my own team?" she still couldn't comprehend it. "Thank you, ma'am, for this vote of confidence and this opportunity."

Erin Strauss smiled. "You have 48 hours to decide, or they'll choose someone else for the position, and you'll be reassigned anyway. Take the time to talk it over with your family before you get back to me."

They sat there for another twenty minutes or so, discussing other details about the promotion and the previous night.

Eventually Emily smiled, still in shock, as she stood to leave the office.

"Oh, and Emily?"

She turned back to her superior as she reached the door.

"You deserve this, you've earned this."

Emily nodded, still in shock, and closed the door behind her. As she walked back towards the bullpen, she was still in shock. She automatically made her way over to her desk and sat down heavily in the chair.

"Hey Em, you alright?" Morgan asked, looking up from his paperwork.

"I'm fine," she said, still staring at her desk.

"What did Strauss want?" Reid asked, putting his earphones away to join the conversation.

"In light of what happened last night, she wants to take me off the team," she began, still trying to process what just happened. "She wants to promote me to SSAIC of B Team."

The boys sat, also dumbstruck, just looking at her. JJ and Rossi walked in, hand in hand, and almost laughed at the looks on their faces. Penelope also appeared with a pile of paperwork.

"Who died?" Rossi asked, breaking the ice.

Emily looked up at the couple, who were on the verge of becoming engaged, and half smiled. She repeated what she said to the boys, and huge grins broke out on their faces.

"Em, that's wonderful," JJ exclaimed, bending in to give her best friend a hug.

"Thanks, Jen," she whispered.

"You deserve this," Dave said, hugging her once JJ had let her go. Emily nodded once again, then stepped back. "Have you told Aaron yet?"

Emily shook her head. "I promised to call once the meeting finished, but I don't know how he'll take it."

JJ and Morgan pretty much just pushed her in the direction of the elevator.

"Girl, just tell your hunk of a husband already," Penelope said. "I don't want to see you in this office until tomorrow morning, and then I want you to be clearing out your desk to move your stuff to your office."

Emily smiled as she entered the waiting elevator. "Thanks guys, for everything," she said.

"Just go!"

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It was almost 1:30, and Aaron was starting to worry that Emily hadn't yet called. He kept checking his cell for new text messages, or any communication, from his team, but was disappointed to see nothing new had appeared on the screen in the last minute or so since he last checked it.

"Anxious about something?"

He looked up to see his beautiful wife standing in the doorway, yet again, and a smile split across his face. Her own smile lit up the depressing hospital room, and she immediately went to lie next to him on his bed.

"How was the meeting?" Aaron asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Surprisingly enough, Erin Strauss was actually nice for once," Emily began, snuggling into his body. "She pretty much told me they'd been ignoring out 'relationship'," for this she used her fingers for the inverted commas, "for the past few years, until I pretty much killed someone who shot you last night, and now thinks we can't work on the same team together."

Aaron frowned. "But this is the only time, barring your pregnancy, that our personal lives have interfered with out professional lives," he said, turning her on her side so he could see her better.

The smile on his face confused him, and he urged for her to finish.

"Apparently, Agent Sampson of B Team can't handle Quantico and the weather anymore, and is leaving the FBI for sunnier climes with his family..." she trailed off, almost leaving him a trail of breadcrumbs.

"He's the Unit Chief, isn't he?" Arron asked, and Emily nodded, smiling again.

"Strauss wants to promote me to Unit Chief of B Team."

Aaron smiled. "That's wonderful."

Emily nodded. "She said we'll technically be equals, just in charge of separate teams. I'll have my own office, my own media liaison, my own team; we apparently all share Garcia in some respect, but she loves the extra attention."

Aaron's face hardened slightly, and Emily knew he was thinking of something. "Emily, you know how long the hours are, how hard it is on families, what about Jack and Audrey?"

"Amelia just about lives with us anyway," Emily said, her voice softening, the excitement wearing out slightly. "I'm sure no one will have any problems if they come in sometimes if they have to, and what are the chances we'll both be out of town on cases at the same time? If anything, we'll be able to spend more time with them than we can now."

He saw the look on her face, and let the walls fall down again. "You'll protect yourself?"

"I'll be fine, the four agents already working for the team are apparently all very good, just not ready for the promotion."

"What happens if you turn it down?"

Emily's face fell somewhat. "No matter what I decide, what we decide, I will have to leave our team, something about a conflict of interest. Strauss said either Unit Chief of the second team, or some crap position elsewhere within the Bureau."

Aaron sighed somewhat heavily. "Ultimately, the decision is yours to make, but whatever you decide, I will support you all the way."

Emily smiled her thanks, and kissed him soundly.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3 (March 2012)_

The next Monday morning, newly promoted Supervisory Special Agent in Charge Emily Hotchner walked into a new bullpen down the hall from her old one, a single box in her hands, and stopped at the railing just in front of what was to become her new office.

"Agent Hotchner?" Strauss said next to her, breaking her reverie. "You can place your box in your office then introduce yourself to your new team."

Emily looked up and smiled at the older woman and nodded. That was something she could definitely do.

As it was only early in the workday, none of her team had shown up yet, though at 0815, she somewhat expected them to be arriving very shortly. She sipped her mug of coffee; Jack had given her the mug for Mother's Day the previous year, and she felt it necessary to have the extra boost of confidence the 'Superhero Mom' inscription gave her.

A few minutes later, a tall woman walked in, her mass of curly red hair flying everywhere behind her. She dumped her handbag on top of what Emily thought was her desk before walking into the conference room for her own cup of coffee.

As she was making it, an older man walked in, reminding her of Gideon, and sat down at another desk, pulling what looked like case files out of his bag. Moments later, a whirlwind of blonde hair, manicured nails and stilettos brushed past Emily up the stairs, entering an office three doors down from hers.

Emily guessed she was the media liaison, as JJ was often a whirlwind when she was busy, and smiled to herself. She was just waiting on the two remaining members of her team now, and was anxious to meet them.

"Maybe you should set up your office, I'll round the herd into the conference room in thirty for the introductions, then you'll hit the ground running," Strauss whispered in her ear. Emily nodded, and somewhat reluctantly turned to enter her office.

"Thank you again," she said to the woman, just loud enough for her to hear. Strauss just waved her hand, and Emily closed the door behind her. First days were supposed to be hard.

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As first days went, Emily thought this was one of her better days. Strauss, true to her word, gathered her new team into the conference room, and Emily strode confidently in. The talking stopped abruptly, and she once again felt like an outsider invading a team that had worked together well for years.

"As you all know, Agent Sampson has left the FBI, and I have promoted someone to his position," Strauss began. She knew they were all profiling Emily; they were the BAU after all, rules or no rules. "This is Emily Hotchner, she's been with the BAU for eight years now, and the Bureau for even longer. I want to make it clear, she deserves this position, no strings were pulled, and none of you are ready to replace Jacob. She is it."

There were deep sighs and glances thrown around, but Emily couldn't care less. She knew she'd have to earn their respect and trust, and they hers, but the team dynamics were solid, and she was ready.

"I know you guys don't know me, I don't know you, but we'll be working together from now on," Emily began. Strauss silently slipped from the room, leaving the new Chief to her own devices. "I was born the daughter of an ambassador and a senator. I grew up all over the world, and have been through more than my fair share of pain. I worked for A Team until last week, when I was promoted, and I feel we can become a better team, better profilers, if we all work together as a team."

The blonde whirlwind stood up. "Well, Agent Hotchner, I'm Amanda Waverley, the team's media and law enforcement liaison. This is Sophia Carlson, she's a sex crimes expert, then we have Adrian Shaw, Kevin Newport, and our resident genius, and Doctor William Hunt, who is also a well versed criminal psychologist."

Emily nodded and smiled. "Well, I hope we have a chance to get to know each other better before our first case as a new team, and I hope we can give the others a run for their money."

"Ma'am," Kevin Newport, the youngest member of her team, spoke up. She winced; she had never liked the title. "What should we call you?"

Emily shrugged. "We can figure that out later, just as long as you don't call me ma'am, Agent Newport. For now, I have piles of paperwork to sift through, so unless we get a case, we should be out of here by 1700. I'd prefer to be out of here earlier, so I can see my kids for more than a few minutes, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

The agents nodded, and stood up from the conference table, nodding to Emily on their way out. Amanda hung back in the room after the others left, and Emily waited for her to speak.

"Can I help you, Agent Waverley?"

The blonde woman sighed, and seemingly slowed down from the whirlwind pace she was normally at, somewhat like JJ, to talk to her. "Agent Hotchner, I have received some case files from Agent Jareau to peruse, I was wondering if you would look over the most promising ones to determine which ones warrant our attention."

Emily smiled. "Agent Waverley, do you have anything you'd prefer me to call you?" she began, a soft smile on her face.

"Um, everyone usually just calls me Mandy."

Emily smiled again. "Well, Mandy, I'll just leave that up to you; if you think the case is emergent enough to deserve our attention, then by all means, leave it on my desk."

The liaison smiled warmly. "Thank you, Agent Hotchner. Sampson never trusted my judgement enough, he was always double- and triple-checking everything I did, like he didn't trust me as a woman. It's a breath of fresh air to have someone like you leading the team."

"Not a problem Mandy," she replied, and walked out of the conference room. She strode confidently into her office, pausing only to shut the door behind her, and sat down at her desk. It was exactly like Aaron's, not that she expected it to be any different, but in her still-unpacked box sat her family photo frames, which, unlike Aaron's office, would adorn her walls.

She relaxed heavily into the leather chair, her leather chair, and sighed. This would be something she'd have to get used to.

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"So, how was your first day without us?" JJ asked later that afternoon. Emily met them at the team's favourite bar after they had all left the office, and she had to throw back a shot of tequila before she said anything.

"As first days go, it wasn't that bad," she started, though no one was fooled by her mock enthusiasm. They all looked at her pointedly. "Ok, so it wasn't that good either. I think you, Penelope, will be my saviour."

"Tell us about your team," she gushed, bouncing in her seat. Derek, Spencer and Dave sat forward in their seats, eager smiles on their faces; Emily wished Aaron was there with them instead of still being in hospital.

"Well," she began, downing another shot of tequila. "My media liaison is a blonde whirlwind, Jen, almost just like you, but with some confidence issues. Apparently, my predecessor didn't put much faith in her as a woman, and her self esteem took a pretty nasty hit."

JJ smiled widely, "Nice to know you haven't replaced me, Em."

"Oh, no chance of that happening, trust me," Emily replied. "None of them can figure out what to call me; one of them even called me ma'am." Everyone erupted in laughter as Emily winced, even as she said it. "Even better still, the kid seems scared of me. I had no idea I could be that intimidating."

"Ah, fresh meat," Derek said, raising his eyebrows. "Let me guess, this kid has a fancy degree, a history in law enforcement, more than a passing interest in behaviour analysis and serious mommy issues."

Emily laughed. "That explains Kevin to a T; apparently I'm a hard ass without a softer side."

"Maybe you should bring Jack and Audrey in for a visit, to show your softer side," Spencer suggested. "We hardly ever get to see them any more."

"Trust me, you wouldn't want Audrey in at the moment," Emily said. "She's got teeth coming through, and just about screams the house down every few hours once the teething gel wears off."

Penelope giggled slightly at the situation, before begging again. "Tell me more, tell me more!"

Emily sighed. "Well, I have a resident genius too, except you'll always be my favourite, Reid," she added before going on. "Doctor Hunt is a 'well-versed criminal psychologist' who apparently has a personality, I just haven't seen it yet."

They burst out into laughter again, taking the time to pick Emily's new team to bits and avoiding their own problems.

"I have a sex crimes expert, Sophia Carlson, and she's tall and gorgeous and has flyaway red hair. It's so pretty I'm almost jealous; why can't my hair ever look that good?"

"Because you have dead straight black hair, sweetie," Penelope inserted. "It's not supposed to look good."

"Thanks Garcia," Emily retorted. "Anyway, Adrian Shaw reminds me somewhat of Gideon, but he's a trained hostage negotiator, previously worked in the Crimes Against Children team, and lives the American Dream in his spare time, what little we have of it."

"Honey, we work for the FBI; spare time is a foreign concept here," Garcia inserted again. "We're lucky we get time to sleep sometimes."

Emily laughed again, and stood up from the table. "Well, I'm going to go to the hospital for a few hours before going home; I'll see about Amelia bringing Audrey in tomorrow while Jack's at school."

"How long will Hotch be in hospital?" JJ asked, looking up from Dave.

"He'll be in until the end of the week when they take his stitches out, then has another week of medical leave at home before he's stuck on light duties for another week in the office."

"I'll bet he loves that," Derek replied sarcastically.

Emily picked up her handbag from the floor and laughed. "Oh, I haven't told him yet; I'll let the doctors take care of that. Let's just say Amelia will have another petulant child to look after for a week."

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The next day progressed quickly, and Emily left her new team attending to consults while she continued with her paperwork. Being on a new team, she finally changed her name officially with the Bureau, and her new ID showed it. It felt good to be known as Agent Hotchner, permanently, and to leave Agent Prentiss behind.

Before she knew it, Emily looked at the time, and was surprised to see it was one o'clock. She grinned slightly, knowing she had missed lunch, but could still grab a quick sandwich before her daughter ended up in her office for a 'surprise' visit.

She ran into Penelope in the break room, and they sat there discussing her budding relationship with Derek Morgan for close to half an hour when JJ walked in, and the conversation turned to her hopefully upcoming nuptials with Dave Rossi.

Before they knew it, 2pm rolled around and Emily noticed she was running late. She bid her friends goodbye and walked back to her office slowly, passing through her old bullpen purposely to poke faces at Derek.

"Hey, Mama," he greeted, poking a face back at her. "Are you lost?"

Emily laughed. "No, Derek, I just had lunch with JJ and Pen. When are you going to propose anyway?"

"Yeah, bye Mama," he replied, shaking his head. He knew Emily was playing him, as she asked that particular question about three times a week, more if he pissed her off too much.

Aaron saw her walk past his office window, and they shared a smile. He was finding it hard to concentrate on the conversation he was having over the phone while his very attractive wife walked past, swinging her hips provocatively. She smiled at the look on his face, the desire she could see in his eyes, and laughed as she walked away.

She walked into her own bullpen less than a minute later, and was ambushed almost immediately.

"Mommy!" her one year old, wobbling slightly, ran to her the only way a toddler could. Audrey slammed into her legs before Emily could bend down and catch her. "Hi Mommy!"

Emily smiled and hoisted Audrey up, swinging her above her head before snuggling her against her chest. "Hi baby," she said, kissing the girl's forehead. She looked up and smiled at Amelia, then poked her daughter's nose, making her giggle loudly.

"Agent Hotchner, I didn't know you had a daughter," Newport said, standing up from his desk. Emily looked at him and saw the desire fall from his eyes rapidly.

"Agent Newport, you know I've been quite happily married for the past three years right?" she stared at him. Audrey, who had been observing her parents, stared at the younger agent as well.

Newport visibly gulped. "Um, yes?"

She smiled. "Good; this is my daughter Audrey," she turned to the toddler. "Say hi, baby."

"Hi," she said and waved her chubby hand at him she turned back to look at her mother. "Pence?"

"No, honey," she smiled. "This is Newport, he's on my new team."

"JJ?"

"You want to see JJ?"

"JJ!" she clapped her hands.

Emily smiled. "Sure honey, we can go see JJ."

Her five new agents stood in the middle of the bullpen, almost dumbstruck, their eyes following their new Unit Chief and her daughter as they walked down the hall.

"Okay, who expected that?" Mandy asked. A chorus of "Not me's," followed.

"I thought she was an Ice Queen," Newport said. "But look at her, she's all warm and fuzzy."

"And her best friend is standing right behind you."

The five of them turned around. Penelope Garcia was standing behind them, her hands planted firmly on her hips. None of them had ever seen her out of her bunker, and they were surprised to see how hot she was.

"Damn, woman, you're a hottie," Newport tried, but stopped with the glare she shot at him.

"Don't you start with me, Kevin Newport, you have no idea how hard I can make your life," she turned to the rest of them. "As for you guys, she is your new boss, she will open up somewhat eventually, but you have to earn each other's trust first. She's been an important member of the BAU for eight years, and now she just about has to start over again, so I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

The group watched as yet another woman walked away from them, this time needing to close their jaws from the shock they received.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

"Em!"

"Pen'a'pee!" Audrey exclaimed, clapping her hands again when she caught sight of her aunt. Emily turned around to face the woman.

"Oh my god, P, what did you do?" Emily groaned, knowing she had just left her bullpen. "Are they still alive?"

Penelope smiled and nodded. "Yeah, they're still there, but I think I scared them a little. Newport thought you were an Ice Queen, and he was planning on hitting on you until you brought Pumpkin in."

Audrey continued to clap her hands and cheer, pulling their attention to her. Ever the adoring aunt, Penelope tickled the little girl and blew raspberries on her hands, causing her to erupt in even more giggles. They continued walking to see the rest of the family, Emily leaving her own team staring holes into her back.

* * *

**Ok, so this will be it for at least 2 weeks. I'm going to Malaysia on holidays in the morning, and it would really rock my world if my inbox was filled with reviews when I get back... please?**


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4 (June 2012)_

The next few months passed quickly and before they knew it, Emily and her team were returning home from a case in Corpus Christi, Texas. She felt so dirty after having spent hours conversing with a serial killer, but before she could scrub herself clean, she needed to see her kids.

Stepping off their jet, she sighed heavily. This case had really hit home, and in the past weeks, the team had taken to calling her 'Hotch'. It had taken some getting used to, as the first few times they said it, she automatically turned around, looking for her husband, only to smile when she realised they were talking to her.

The drive home was a quick one in her standard FBI-issue black Chevy Suburban, and she couldn't wait for a nice relaxing bubble bath and a night with her family. Emily entered the house through the garage door, one that connected via the kitchen, and was hit with a wave of silence. Normally at that time of the afternoon, Amelia would have Jack and Audrey in the kitchen; Jack with his homework spread out across the table and Audrey making a mess in her high chair.

She looked around and saw food in the microwave and toys on the floor, all looking like they'd been left in a hurry. Without even bothering to drop her go bag, filled with dirty clothes, she checked the answering machine near the front door. The light was flashing, the number indicating a half dozen new messages. Fearing the worst, Emily pressed play.

"_Emily, it's Derek. There's been an accident. I'll try your cell again, it's important."_

"_Em, pick up pick up pick up pick up, I need you,"_ Penelope's voice echoed before she hung up.

"_Em, I'm gathering you guys are on your way home because we can't get through on your cell. Call me asap,"_ Dave's voice spoke to her.

"_Agent Hotchner, I need to see you first thing in the morning in my office,"_ Erin Strauss's voice all but demanded.

"_Em, honey, don't get mad, but I need you to not call the boys. Hell, don't call anyone until you've called me, and that includes Aaron,"_ JJ sounded like she was trying not to cry.

"_Emily, it's Amelia. There was an accident at Jack's school today, I'm surprised you don't know about it, but I suppose you will soon enough. Audrey and I are fine, but your baby girl wants her mom."_

Emily was worried; Aaron hadn't called, and to make matters worse, JJ had told her not to call him. That combined with Amelia's strange message didn't bode well for her nerves. She pulled out her cell and immediately speed dialled number 6, the one she reserved for JJ. The blonde picked up almost immediately.

"_Oh, Em, thank god you're back. I need you to get to Walter Reed NNMC as soon as you can."_

"Why, Jen, what happened?"

"_Em, a suicide bomber got into Jack's school today and held most of the elementary classes hostage. A few children were injured and we were one of the teams called to help with the situation."_

Emily could hear the tension in her voice; Henry was a student at the same school, and though he was a few years younger than Jack, he was probably affected as well. "Jen what aren't you telling me?" she asked quietly.

"_Em, you need to get here quickly. Use your siren,"_ the media liaison replied quietly. _"We all need you here."_

The call ended abruptly, and Emily looked strangely at her cell. Sensing the urgency, she dropped her used go bag right where she was standing and grabbed her backup from the entrance hall, grabbing Aaron's as she went. They were used to living out of bags on the run, and a backup bag helped when they had to jump straight into another interstate case after one finished.

Emily rushed back to her car, turned the siren on, and sped off in the direction of what used to be Bethesda Naval Hospital. She was slightly confused as to why they were at that particular hospital; she knew that many high-powered politicians and safety-conscious federal agents enrolled their children at the exclusive private school, but for them to be at NNMC meant there was a strong Army/Navy influence.

Her siren worked wonders, and even though the school traffic was gone, she was early enough to beat the peak hour traffic which would clog the roads within the next hour. Emily pulled her SUV up in a carpark, one obviously filled with other federal agents, if the amount of government cars there was any indication, and she almost ran straight to the entrance.

JJ met her in the doorway, her usually-sparkling eyes brimmed with tears, and Emily knew it was something bad. "Tell me now, no anaesthesia."

The blonde nodded and pulled her to the side, just outside of the busy hospital. Through the doors, Emily could see the waiting room was filled with people in suits, some of which had insignias on them, all looking anxious and impatient.

"Around ten this morning, just after the students had returned from recess, a-then unidentified male entered the elementary building wearing a black ski mask and black clothing with an overcoat hiding a bomb strapped to his body. He entered the building admin office and forced the ladies to seal off the building before knocking them unconscious. As you know, the building has a gym on the bottom floor, and he assembled all the students there.

"He was obviously sniper trained, or at least aware, as he made the teachers all stand in front of each of the windows. A few children struggled, and he knocked them unconscious too, before the older ones took charge of the younger students to keep them calm. He apparently then started demanding to talk to hostage negotiators from a number of different agencies, and pulled certain students out of the crowd; Jack and Henry were two of them, along with about ten others.

"Most of this information was passed on via the teachers and Jack, who had taken it upon himself to be the one person to stand up to 'the man with the bomb', as he called him. Apparently, the students were children of agents who made up part of a task force which threw him and a few others in jail and killed his two brothers. He knew Jack and Henry were sons of the BAU, were our sons, even though it was apparently Gideon who was part of that task force."

Jennifer stopped to take a breath and dared to look into Emily's eyes. Through the tears building up, she could see she was proud of Jack, whom she thought of as a son, taking after his parents, trying to save the world, one 'bad guy' at a time.

"Was Jack hurt?" Emily managed to choke out. "Was Henry hurt?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, but that's not the worst of it. Because you and Hotch trained Jack so well, once this started happening, he dialled his father on his cell and let the whole thing be recorded by Penelope, so we were the first ones on the scene. The un-sub called the other children by name, and she ran them through the database as well. Once we were alerted about their parents' identities, Hotch made the executive decision to notify the rest of the agencies.

"Did you know that the NCIS major case response team know Agent Fornell? Well, I found out today, when they turned up and Fornell and a guy named Gibbs started arguing with each other over jurisdiction. Hotch joined the argument, as did another guy from the Bureau named Booth, and after the testosterone match ended, they mutually agreed the BAU would run point."

Emily chuckled despite herself. "Was that before or after Aaron told them about Jack and his involvement?"

JJ smiled as well. "After, not that it made much of a difference. Apparently, every team has skilled hostage negotiators, but none of them are trained profilers, nor are they as highly trained as we are. Then, out of nowhere, a female CIA agent appeared and pulled out the 'national security' card, which led to another argument about clearance levels. I was very impressed to learn Hotch has a higher clearance than me.

"Anyway, one thing led to another; we ended up with snipers on rooftops, Navy Seals stalking the building, you name it, someone took care of it. Eventually, the five of them, still debating over who was in charge, entered the building to negotiate.

"Hotch managed to negotiate the release of the majority of the children in exchange for himself, the CIA agent, Gibbs, Booth and Fornell, but the injured ones and the 'children of interest', the un-sub's words, not mine, were left in there with him and the teachers. The un-sub started waving a gun around, only a Glock, but still enough to make them nervous."

"What happened, JJ?"

JJ sighed. "As far as I know, the kids are fine, no lasting physical damage, but they'll have to see a shrink regardless; the CIA agent, who introduced herself as Fox, managed to disconnect the suicide bomb and dead man's switch…"

"Jennifer! What happened?"

"Hotch, Booth and Gibbs were shot; nothing too serious, but still bad enough."

Emily pushed her way past her best friend and through the entrance doors, straight into the crowded waiting area. She was immediately ambushed by Penelope, Amelia and Audrey, the youngest of whom almost jumped into her mother's arms. "Where is he?" she asked quietly, hugging her daughter to her body.

The women had fallen silent. JJ walked up behind Emily and indicated the rest of them stay quiet, but Emily wasn't in the mood for it.

"Where is he?" she repeated louder.

The room fell silent around them, and everyone turned to the nurse who had just entered the room. Everyone waited for the name she was about to call.

"Family of Agent Hotchner?"

Emily breathed out a sigh of relief, and the crowd cut to let her pass through. "Is Aaron okay?"

"Follow me please."

Derek, Spencer and Dave stood behind her, preventing the other impatient people from ambushing the lone nurse, and communicated their support non-verbally, for which Emily was immensely grateful. They all started to walk down the corridor after the nurse, but after a few paces she stopped them.

"I'm sorry, but family only."

"We are his family," Morgan said. "Apart from his wife and kids, we're the closest thing he has to a family."

The nurse sighed. "Who is Mrs Hotchner?" she asked. Emily raised her hand, still hugging Audrey. "Well, Mrs Hotchner…"

"Agent Hotchner," they all corrected her. It happened often enough with most of them.

"Agent Hotchner," she conceded. "Your husband was shot in the left arm with a .22 calibre bullet. The wound was through and through, but required surgery to repair the internal damage and to sufficiently close the skin. He lost a considerable amount of blood in the field, but most of that has been transfused back into him."

They all breathed out a sigh of relief. Hotch was going to be fine.

"What about Jack?" Penelope asked. The nurse gave her a funny look.

"Jack Hotchner, my stepson," Emily clarified.

"I'm afraid I can't disclose his condition to anyone other than his parents. Where is his mother?"

Emily looked at the woman with fire in her eyes. "I am his mother, in all sense of the title; his biological mother was murdered four years ago. I'm in the process of adopting him, it just hasn't gone through yet."

The nurse took a step back. "Jack is in the paediatric wing with the rest of the children that have been brought in, but I thought you would want to see your husband?"

"Aaron will be asleep for a while yet, the anaesthesia takes a while to work its way out of his system. We've been shot enough times to know that," Emily bared her teeth. "Where is my son?"

Her face paled, and she took another step back. "Paediatrics 219, Doctor Augustine."

Emily didn't even bother to thank the woman, she just pushed past her and headed straight for the elevator. JJ paused to comfort the nurse.

"Stress hits everyone differently, but it's true what she said about the anaesthesia. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine," she patted the nurse's shoulder. "You just worry about what the rest of that waiting room will do to you if you don't update them soon."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

JJ walked into paediatrics 2319 and was surprised to see Henry was in the bed next to Jack, and the other nine children were in beds in the same room. Paediatrics was obviously a well funded department, as 2319 housed twelve beds as well as toys for the children.

"Mommy!" she heard her son yell, and she smiled as the five year old summoned her to the bed most of the kids had surrounded.

"Hey there, baby boy," she kissed his forehead. "Who are your new friends?"

The oldest one stuck out his hand for her to shake. "Parker Booth, and this is my little sister Ashlyn and her twin brother Aiden. They're four, but they're really, really smart just like their mommy and our daddy."

JJ smiled at the young charismatic boy and tickled his sister's stomach before turning to the next child. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Caitlin," she answered shyly.

"I'm Tali," the one next to her said.

"And I'm Shiloh," the identical one on the other side of Caitlin interrupted. "We're triplets!"

JJ laughed at the three little girls. The boy behind them caught her eye, and she tried to include him too. "What about you, little man?"

"Oliver Rene Beniot-DiNozzo."

"That's a big name for such a little boy."

"You can call me Ollie; everyone does except my daddy, he just calls me Oliver."

"What about me?" a fiery little red head yelled. "I'm Shelby, and you're my favourite!"

"Shelby, everyone's your favourite," Ollie told her. "What about you, who are you?"

JJ smiled widely. "My name is Jennifer, and I'm Henry's mom and Jack's aunt. That lady over there with the dark hair and the baby, she's Jack's mom Emily."

"Do you know my daddy?" Shelby asked, sitting herself as close to JJ as she could with Henry on her lap.

JJ looked at the little girl. "Sweetie, I know lots of daddies. Can you tell me your daddy's name?"

She smiled widely, an angelic look appearing on her face. "Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS." The five year old looked adorable and proud staring up at her. JJ almost laughed at the look on her face and the fire in her eyes. "And my mommy is… over there! Mommy!"

JJ looked up and smiled as she saw the woman's eyes light up. She remembered feeling like that when Henry was a baby, seeing him for the first time after returning home from a long, hard case interstate.

"Hey baby," she greeted. Shelby obviously had her mother's hair and passion, but the woman could walk in heels.

"What's happening?" Emily came up behind her and asked in her ear. JJ looked at her best friend, who had Audrey still attached to her hip, and smiled.

"I made friends with the kids, who are adorable by the way, and that is Shelby's mom," JJ pointed out the new arrival.

Emily stared, her head tilted slightly to the side. "Isn't that Director Shepard of NCIS?"

JJ nodded. "Shelby is her oldest child; she also has a two year old named Susannah, or at least that's what her file says. All these kids are the children of high profile federal agents based in DC, the alphabet soup's best crime solving teams, and they were targeted by an un-sub just because of who their parents are and the lives they protect by doing their jobs."

"Yeah," Emily nodded slowly. "It reminds me of just how susceptible we are to the people we put away."

"It kinda scares me," JJ summarised. "It scares me that it can happen to us; it now has happened to us, and even though we came out relatively unscathed, it just makes me think. Will it happen again? How can I protect Henry, or any other kids that may come along?"

"You keep doing what you're doing, and you try your hardest to make sure it never happens again."

They turned around, and smiled as Jennifer Shepard approached them, Shelby firmly attached to her side.

"Jennifer Shepard, NCIS," she introduced herself. Emily and JJ shook her outstretched hand and introduced themselves. "I understand it's your team I have to thank for saving the children?"

JJ nodded. "Yes ma'am. It was Emily's stepson who alerted us to the situation, his quick thinking and the training he received from us aided in the assessment of the situation and it was our technical analyst who pulled your children's files so we could, in turn, alert you. Unfortunately, this type of event happens often with us, just not with our own children, so our response times are minimal at best."

"I think we were lucky your stepson acted the way he did, Agent Hotchner," Director Shepard turned to the older woman. "You and your team have made a friend with me today."

Both JJ and Emily stood, almost shell-shocked, as they received praise from the director of another agency they had never met, but was apparently their new best friend. They watched as she injected herself into the conversation with the other children, immediately becoming 'Aunt Jenny' to all but her own daughter, and was totally at ease amongst the five- to eight-year-olds.

"I'm going to go check on Aaron and the boys," Emily whispered in JJ's ear, and the blonde nodded, her eyes not leaving the kids in front of her. "Come on then, Miss Audrey Elizabeth, we are going to find daddy and see how the boys are doing."

"Pay?" Audrey asked, tilting her head slightly.

Emily laughed. "Yes, baby girl, the boys will play with you."

"Yay! Pay!"

* * *

**Ok, so this was a big, important chapter... it influences a lot of decisions. **

**I'd like to know what you think. Please drop me a review, or a PM if you'd prefer, just so I know what your thoughts are. I'm slowly catching up again after my holidays, but it would still be nice to know if anything needs attention.**

**Thanks heaps!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**This is personally one of my favourite chapters, and you'll probably see why. I'm also going to shamelessly advertise my new story, The Family Scrapbook, which is the standard snapshot story of the family with a twist... It follows this universe, and I'd love it if you could please check it out, and leave a review at both!**

**Disclaimer: if it were mine, I wouldn't be studying as hard as I was...  
**

_Chapter 5 (June 2012)_

The only notable event of that night was Emily and JJ making friends with high-powered women from within the alphabet soup their agency was a part of. Ziva David-DiNozzo, Jennifer Shepard and Temperance Brennan all had children in hospital with theirs after the incident at their supposedly safe private school, and the bond the women formed through the tragedy that wasn't was strong enough to last a lifetime.

When Emily walked into her husband's room the next morning, dropping heavily onto his bed, she smiled at the grunt that escaped from his lips.

"What was that for?" Aaron asked, fully opening his eyes to look at his wife. The two other injured men were sharing the room with him, and their wives had not yet arrived for what they all knew was about to happen.

"Oh, Aaron, you know exactly what that was for," Emily began. "First, you let our son stay in a potentially deadly situation without telling me, and then, while I am out of the state, you go and get yourself shot again! Aaron, it's barely been four months since the last time you were in hospital with a bullet wound, have you ever thought that maybe the next one will be your last? What would your death do to me, how would your death affect Jack and Audrey, or were you not thinking about them? How stupid can you get?"

She looked down at her husband, whose mouth was open, as if he was trying to get a word in. "Uh, uh, I'm not finished yet. As for you two," she raised her voice, and the other two men, who had been unsuccessfully trying to ignore the verbal bashing their comrade was receiving, looked directly at Emily. "I don't even know where to start with you two, other than you'd sure as hell be glad it's me and not your respective wives in here having this conversation, because god knows there has been enough blood spilt between the three of you in your lifetimes."

She took a breath to calm herself down, before standing to leave the room. "Oh, and by the way," she turned back, talking over her shoulder. "You have a week in here, together, and that's just the beginning of your punishment. You have everything else to look forward to once you get your stitches out, again."

Once Emily had walked out the door, the three men, Aaron Hotchner, Seeley Booth, and Jethro Gibbs, watched her black hair bob up and down until she had completely disappeared from the hallway.

"Man, your wife is intense," Booth commented. He manipulated his control a little to raise himself up into a sitting position. "But better yours than mine, I suppose," he added.

"If you think that's intense, wait until you meet my wife," Gibbs piped up from Aaron's other side; he was in the middle of the other two men. "Jen is the first female director of an armed federal agency; you should've seen her when one of the kids decided to swap her coffee for decaf for a week."

"Your children aren't old enough to understand what coffee us, let alone decaf," Booth said.

"I wasn't talking about our children, I was talking about my team, the boneheaded agents who decided to name us 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' and take our life and caffeine intake into their own hands."

Booth laughed, and Aaron chuckled at the thought. "Well, I'm pretty sure we just about inhale coffee while on cases," Aaron commented. "Though JJ would take it intravenously if she had the opportunity, and I'd hate to think what Emily would do given the chance."

"At least you don't have Angela," Booth interrupted. The other two men looked at him strangely. "Seriously, even pregnant, this woman has more energy than all the coffee in DC, and can squeal the roof off the lab if you excite her too much. Just wait until she comes in and rips me a new one; it's been a while since she's been able to give me a decent tongue bashing."

"Seeley Booth, you have exactly thirty seconds to tell me why I had to drag my pregnant ass down to this hospital for the third time this year!" a heavily pregnant brunette screeched from the open door.

Booth shrugged his shoulders and looked at the other two men. "See what I have to deal with?"

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

If there was one thing Emily Hotchner detested about her job, it was the constant meetings with Section Chief Erin Strauss. Yes, she recognised and followed the chain of command, but the woman was demanding and had little or no respect for the personal lives of the members of the BAU teams.

First thing the following morning, Emily was dressed in her usual pantsuit and striding purposely through the BAU floor when she should have been at the hospital with her family. As she walked through her own bullpen, she didn't even pause to greet her team or return their greetings; she knew they had been briefed about the previous days' events, but they did not know the details of the case like she did.

In her defence, she had all but beaten the details out of her best friend.

Not even bothering to stop and announce her presence, Emily barged into Strauss' office and stood in front of the woman's desk. "You wanted to see me, ma'am?"

Strauss looked up and ignored the hostile look on Emily's face. She took her glasses off and placed them on her desk, indicating for Emily to take a seat; she did.

"No offense ma'am, but what is so important that I can't be spending time with my family who have been hospitalised again?"

Strauss sighed. "Agent Hotchner, I'm planning on stepping down at the end of the year; the Bureau has offered me a better position elsewhere, and they want me to start training my replacement so he or she will be able to smoothly transition when I leave."

"And what does that have to do with me?" she asked.

"Emily, the other main reason for your promotion was to train you for my position when I eventually moved on; the move is just happening sooner than I'd anticipated."

The unit chief stared back at her, her mouth slightly open. "You're kidding me, right?"

Strauss shook her head. "I'm completely serious; by the end of the year you will be the section chief overseeing all four teams of the Behavioural Analysis Unit."

"But what about my team? Will they have to suffer a man down because I've been promoted, or be grounded and stuck with consults while I work with you?" Emily asked. "It's been three months, ma'am, and I agree with you that none of them are ready for the responsibility of Unit Chief, nor are they capable enough to function properly as a team without another experienced profiler."

Strauss sighed again. "Agent Hotchner, Emily, believe me when I say that you are very suited to this position; you may hate politics, but you can handle them with greater ease than most of the senior Bureau chiefs. Your extensive network of contacts gives you a foot into places we would normally never have access to, and your newly established relationship with the director of NCIS is one very favourable for all of us."

She paused for a moment, both staring the other in the eye, before the older woman continued. Emily wondered how her boss knew about relationships that had only been built within the last few days, but mentally shrugged it off. "Trust me, you will have a nine to five; there is minimal interstate travel, and you would be able to spend more time with your family without always having to listen out for the phone. Your go bag would become almost redundant, and the perks of the position are highly beneficial for both you and Aaron."

"Perks, ma'am?" Emily asked. She shifted into a more comfortable position in the chair; the prospect of becoming Aaron's boos somewhere other than the bedroom was intriguing, as was the responsibility and the promise of a nine to five.

"Yes," Strauss nodded. "Free access to the Bureau day care for as long as you need it, you have a Bureau car for your personal use, as well as access to the unit's charge accounts for business expenses. You can pull rank on your husband, though I'm sure you probably won't, and as Section Chief, you have the highest medical insurance available as you become one of the management group.

"You have the pick of cases you can join any team on, transfer anyone in and out of the BAU within reason and, if you manage to, secure extra funding for the BAU. You will have to make appearances on behalf of the Bureau at many social events, not unlike the functions you were forced to attend as a child, and you will be able to host your own, for only the flimsiest reasons, just about."

"No offence ma'am, and thank you for your assurance in my abilities, but wouldn't Aaron be more suited to the position?"

Erin sighed and dipped her head momentarily. "Emily, you and I both know that my relationship with Aaron is strained at best, but I think, and I assume you have a feeling, that due to recent events, Aaron may leave the BAU in the near future, for his and your well-being, and so he can actually live long enough to raise your children."

The pair sat in silence for a moment, both reflecting on what she just said, and Emily knew she was right. Aaron was in hospital for the second time in three months after being shot; Audrey was barely a year old, and her big brother Jack almost eight. She herself was on the wrong side of forty, and as much as she loved Jack and Audrey, Emily hoped by some miracle they would be able to have another child in the near future.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Erin asked quietly, noticing the reflective look on her subordinate's face.

Emily nodded slowly. "Can I think about it?" she asked.

Erin smiled, turning back into her ruthless self. "Agent Hotchner, no matter what you decide, you will become Section Chief when I step down; how successful you want to be, and how long you plan to last, in the position is up to you. I'll expect you in my office at 9am every Monday morning from now on, assuming you're not on a case, and you have to personally attend all budget meetings etcetera as well as sit in on most of my meetings for the near future. See you next week."

Recognising the dismissal, Emily rose and left the office, once again confused by what the woman had pretty much told her about her future.

She walked back the way she came, stopping in at her office to pick up some paperwork, before continuing to Penelope's bunker for some answers.

"Garcia, open up, I need to talk to you," she knocked on the locked door. Emily heard nothing from the inside, so she tried again. "Penelope? It's Emily, can I come in?"

"She's not there," a voice came from behind her.

Emily turned around to see Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch standing behind her, a similar bunch of files in his arms. "What do you mean she's not here?"

Kevin shrugged. "She sent me a message this morning saying she wouldn't be in today, and if anyone needed anything, I'm the TA of the day."

Emily huffed and pouted; Penelope Garcia was always in her bunker during office hours, unless…

She started to walk quickly in the direction of the elevators, barely remembering to thank Kevin over her shoulder on her way out. She made her way quickly to her car, her heels clicking loudly on the concrete. As she slipped into the driver's seat of the standard issue black SUV, one which would be replaced with a town car when her promotion went through, she pulled out her cell phone and dialled Penelope's number.

The call rang straight through to voicemail, and Emily was suddenly worried. She drove the car out of the parking garage and headed off in the direction of Penelope's apartment, one of the few places she would probably be when she avoided the office, not that that happened often, all the while repeatedly dialling her cell.

The drive didn't take too long; it was too late for school traffic and too early for the lunch rush, but she was so preoccupied when Emily parked her car and hurried into the courtyard of her best friend's building, she didn't notice the identical vehicle parked slightly down the street.

She hurried up the four flights of stairs to Penelope's apartment and as she approached the door, she heard crashing noises from inside. Fearing the worst, and remembering the time Penelope was shot, she drew her weapon and barged into the apartment, only to walk straight out again, her hands covering her eyes in shock.

Emily slid down the wall next to the closed door and let her head sink into her knees, her eyes still tightly closed.

"Sweetie?" Penelope said softly, opening the door. "Are you okay?"

Emily looked up, a horrified smile on her face. "Penelope, I now have the image of you and Derek having some pretty hot sex burned into my mind forever! How do you think I'm feeling?"

Penelope smiled widely, and slid down the wall next to her best friend. "Yeah, sorry you had to witness that, but my cell was on silent, and even if I did hear it ring, I wouldn't have interrupted my fifth orgasm to answer it," she replied with a cheeky smile.

Emily shook her head, half in disgust, but all the while knowing it was to be expected from Penelope. "So, you and Derek? How long has this been going on behind our backs?"

Penelope smiled widely and shrugged. "Not that long, we only got married secretly last year."

Emily's head whipped up to look at her friend so fast she cracked her neck. "You did what?"


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is a little sad, but necessary, and I actually like the way it turned out! Please please please review!**

_Chapter 6 (June 2012)_

The summer air in the playground did wonders for the morale of the children, and JJ sat peacefully on a nearby bench just watching them. The nurses were still yet to release the children; apparently they were on the discharge list for that afternoon; but all were given permission to play on the hospital playground under supervision.

Jennifer sighed heavily; Dave had yet to come out and see her, and he'd barely spoken three words to her since she'd left with Emily to see the kids, and Emily herself had yet to return from her all-important meeting with Erin Strauss that morning. There was only three other women keeping her company; Jennifer Shepard, Ziva DiNozzo and Temperance Brennan; all of them mothers of the children she had made friends with.

JJ turned her body back in the direction of the other women, trying to inject herself into the conversation, while still keeping an eye on Henry and Jack. Amelia had left earlier with Audrey so the toddler could spend some quality time with her father, and with Emily still unaccounted for, the title of caregiver was left for her.

"So, Agent Jareau, what exactly do you do for the FBI?" Doctor Brennan asked her.

JJ shook herself out of her reverie and gave Temperance her best 'media smile'. "I'm the communications director and media liaison for the Behavioural Analysis Unit's primary team, based out of Quantico," she said. "I make sure the local law enforcement personnel who have called us in know that we're not stepping on any toes, simply lending them a hand with difficult cases."

"Have you had many difficult ones?" Ziva asked, also keeping one eye on her children.

"Definitely," JJ nodded. "We primarily deal with the apprehension of serial killers, rapists, et cetera, by constructing a behavioural profile of the un-sub, amongst other things. For the most part, the locals are appreciative of our presence, but we have come across a few precincts that seem to be against our intervention. Many old fashioned cops don't put much stake in profiling until we prove to them it works, and normally by that time it's too late."

"It's a shame," Jenny murmured. "So many innocent lives are lost before the locals admit to needing your help."

"It is a shame," JJ agreed. "But why don't we talk about something a little happier, like maybe, how much longer your husbands are going to survive after you attempt to kill them again?"

The four women laughed together, and Temperance stood up. "That reminds me, I should go reprimand Booth for his alpha male tendencies again; one day his behaviour will get him killed, and that is not something I wish to deal with."

JJ, Jenny and Ziva laughed again as the anthropologist walked back inside and towards her waiting husband.

"Do you think they'll come out alive?" JJ asked.

Jenny and Ziva shook their heads. "Nope, and they don't deserve to either."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Three days later, Aaron Hotchner, Jethro Gibbs and Seeley Booth were released from hospital to the waiting arms of their wives, all very unhappy at the situation, with strict instructions from their doctor to stay in bed for the next three days and take pain meds when needed. The wives, all now new best friends, bid each other farewell with promises of future play dates and punishments for their bullet-attracting husbands. In a fit of giggles, JJ left Emily to chew out Aaron once more as everyone finally left the hospital.

The children had only been kept in overnight, though all of them were ordered to see psychologists twice a week for the next month to make sure no lasting damage had been done. Emily was just glad Jack was at home with her and Audrey while their father was still in hospital, though Emily thought the supervised bed rest was for his own good.

"So, do you think you deserve these painkillers?" Emily asked, shaking the bottle of vicodin in front of Aaron's face. Aaron sighed. Yes, he was in pain, but he knew he deserved it. Plus, the time off had given him a chance to make the decision he had been avoiding for a while.

"Em, we need to talk," Aaron said quietly, pushing himself into a sitting position on their spacious bed. He had been hit in the left arm, the pain and muscle damage making him unable to write or take care of himself with his dominant hand in a sling.

"Yeah," she sighed, sitting down on the bed in front of him, one leg tucked under her bottom, leaving the other on the side of the bed. "I have something I need to tell you too, but you go first."

Aaron sighed heavily. "Em, you know how much I love my job," he began, and she nodded slowly. He nodded too, "Well, I've decided it might be better for me to retire from active duty and re-enter the lecture circuit."

He paused for a moment, letting his news sink in, and Emily let out a heavy breath. "Ok, that was something I was going to suggest in the near future anyway, because I don't think I could stand you letting yourself get shot _again_ and not kill you myself." She smiled widely as the tension left his body, as much as it could in his condition. "Well, I can see that made you feel better…"

"I'm just happy you're not freaking out about me leaving the BAU," Aaron sighed happily. They were lucky Amelia had taken the small spare room on the bottom floor to become their live-in nanny; she was happily entertaining Jack and Audrey so they could talk.

Emily shrugged. "That's what I was going to tell you," she began, taking her own deep breath. "Strauss is being promoted to a position elsewhere within the Bureau, and it becomes effective on the first of the new year. She told me my promotion to Unit Chief was preparing me for her job." She looked somewhat excited at the prospect. "Strauss wasn't expecting her own promotion until this time next year, but since hers came through sooner than expected, I apparently need to begin my training immediately for her position."

Aaron sat deep in thought for a moment before smiling widely, matching his wife. "Nine to five?" he asked.

She nodded vigorously. "We'll be able to spend more time with the kids, and since I'll only be joining the teams once every so often, go bags become almost redundant. With your decision, you'll be taking the profiling courses at the FBI Academy, and you can guest lecture anywhere you want. We don't need to worry about office fraternisation rules, not that we pay attention to them anyway, but I suppose the big thing is we'll have weekends off!"

Aaron laughed slightly at his wife's attitude. He certainly wanted to do right by his family this time around, now that he had been given a second chance at happiness. "I'll support you the whole way, Em," he replied quietly, refusing to meet her enthusiasm, though a smile hinted at the corners of his mouth.

Emily smiled widely and threw her arms around his neck. "God, have I told you how much I love you recently?" she asked, pushing her hips up against his body. She all but hung from his neck, standing on her toes in order to attempt to be level with his face.

Aaron smiled slightly more now, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her firmly into place. "Darling, you don't need to tell me how much you love me, because I'm pretty sure I love you more," he murmured, sealing his declaration with a searing kiss.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

"Do you think Hotch will ever stop jumping in front of unstable gun-wielding UNSUBs?" Jennifer Jareau asked suddenly, breaking the silence they were comfortably sitting in.

Dave Rossi sighed heavily. They had been staying at his 'cabin' ever since their unit chief had been released from hospital, and on the back porch surrounded by candlelight, all they could hear was the soft sounds of the local wildlife. "I think he knows his limits, Bella, which is why it won't surprise me when he announces he'll be stepping down from active duty some time in the near future."

Jennifer looked up at her partner, moving from her comfortable position in his lap, to stare into his eyes. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded.

"Bella, you know as well as I do that we're not getting any younger, and this is the second time this year Aaron's been in hospital with a gun shot wound," he explained quietly, running his hands down the side of her body. He felt her relax under his touch and she settled back into her previous position. "What I'm saying is I think he should step down sometime soon, if he wants to live to see Audrey and Jack grow up and lead their own lives. He's been given a second chance at a family, and he needs to make sure he doesn't screw this chance up by dying on them."

"Wow," JJ breathed. "You make it sound like that's what you were thinking."

"Would you believe me if I was?"

JJ turned in his lap to look at him again, and this time she noticed the mischievous glint in his eye. "Is there something I should know, David Rossi?" JJ asked playfully.

Dave smiled and reached into his pocket. "Jennifer, you are the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time, and I think you're the only woman I've actually completely fallen in love with after my first wife," he paused, taking her left hand into his own. "Jennifer Augustine Jareau, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Jennifer gasped as David opened the small box he had been holding, revealing a gold ring housing a small princess-cut diamond surrounded by other smaller coloured jewels in a flower pattern. It wasn't overstated or overly large, but it was perfect for the seemingly-simple girl from a small town in Pennsylvania.

"Yes," she whispered, tears of joy beginning to run down her cheeks. "Yes, of course, Dave, of course I'll marry you!"

"God, I love you," Dave grinned and slipped the ring onto her finger before sealing the engagement with a searing kiss.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Penelope sat in the bathtub sobbing, the now-lukewarm water trickling from the showerhead over her shaking back.

"Baby girl, these things happen for a reason," Derek tried to soothe her. He was sitting on a towel on the tiled bathroom floor, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "It's your body's way of telling you there was something wrong with the baby, and that it's for the best if you let it go."

His whispered words were somewhat calming, but the knowledge that they had lost their child was still hard on her. "But what if the stress from the past few days triggered the miscarriage?" she asked, finally looking up into his eyes. Derek could see the haunted look in her face, and knew exactly how much a family meant to his wife.

"How about I take you to the doctor's tomorrow just so he can make sure everything's okay?" he asked. "Remember what he said last time we were in, that you're in good shape and great health for your age, and that I am too. He said there was nothing wrong with us wanting to start a family."

"Derek, you're making it sound like this is my fault," Penelope warned. "I know that's not your intention, but could you maybe shut up for a while and let me cry in peace?"

Morgan nodded, taking the hint. He pushed himself up off the floor and made his way out of the tiny bathroom, not wanting to antagonise her any more than he already had. He walked into the small kitchenette, intending to grab her favourite ice cream, when he saw something that would cheer her up somewhat.

"Penelope, baby girl, I know how I can cheer you up," he said quietly, standing in the doorway.

"Unless you have choc-mint ice cream, nothing will cheer me up," she replied.

Derek held up an unfamiliar key ring and jingled it, the ringing sound grabbing her attention. "What if I told you our new house was ready?"

Penelope's head snapped up so she could see his face. "What?"

"The movers called me yesterday; the furniture we picked out has all been moved in, and everything's been painted and decorated the way you specified," he smiled widely. "All we need to do is move in our clothes and that's our new home!"

Penelope half smiled at his admission, and slowly reached to pull her naked body from her porcelain prison. "Okay, a night in the house sounds nice, but only if you bring choc-mint ice cream," she bargained, cheeky grin starting to appear on her face.

Derek smiled widely. "Baby girl, you can have as much choc-mint as you can handle," he murmured, before leaning in to catch her lips in a searing kiss.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7 (June 2012)_

Unfortunately for everyone, Monday rolled around far too soon for their liking, and the team, sans Hotch, were gathered around the conference room table in the FBI building.

"Em, don't you have your own team of profilers to run?" Morgan asked, placing his coffee on the table before sitting down next to her. "Don't get me wrong, I love you and all, but isn't dereliction of duty a serious issue in this building?'

Emily laughed. "I have meetings with Strauss all day, starting in about ten minutes, so this is likely to be my last laugh for the next eight hours," she teased him, casually bumping shoulders without spilling her own coffee.

"Anything we should know about?" JJ asked, her voice leaning more towards professional than best friend.

"Not unless you have something to share," she bargained, winking conspiringly. "Because I'm pretty sure that ring on your left hand wasn't there last time I saw you!"

Everyone shifted their attention from Emily to the media liaison, and Penelope immediately grabbed the offending hand. "My god woman, how much does that thing weigh? It's huge!"

Emily took a step back from the group and leaned on the doorway, taking the chance to observe her family interact. She felt someone step up behind her, and wasn't surprised when she saw Aaron's hand snake around her hip to rest just above her belt line. She leaned into him, and he dropped his chin gently onto the top of her head. "How did she take it?" she asked quietly.

Aaron shrugged against her. "She wasn't surprised; it was as if she was expecting it for some reason. She said I'll be with the team until the end of July, which is when I'll need to make the transition to the Academy. The new semester at Georgetown starts in September, so in addition to the classes I'll be teaching at the Academy, I'll also be teaching one of the criminology courses through the university."

"When are you going to tell the rest of them?" she asked quietly.

Aaron shrugged. "Maybe I'll announce it when you tell both teams about your upcoming promotion."

Emily smiled. "Is Morgan taking your office again?"

"Yes," Aaron nodded. "Erin seems to think he's the most prepared, and she'll be filling the two open spots on the team with the most qualified members of yours. Apparently there are some proficient up-and-coming profilers coming out of this last Academy course, and they'll be filling the holes within the rest of the BAU."

"So she's just waiting for my recommendations as to who will handle the harder cases better?"

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Penelope asked suddenly, her loud voice interrupting them. "And Em, shouldn't you be in the Ice Queen's office?"

Emily looked at the clock on the wall in shock. "Shit," she said, moving away from her husband quickly, but trying not to jostle the arm that was in a sling. "I'm late; see you guys later!" she called over her shoulder.

The team stood in the conference room just looking at their boss, who just shrugged. "Okay, time to settle down and actually do some work. If you get most of today's consults done by 2, I might let you out early," Hotch bribed his male team members.

Morgan and Reid immediately scrambled out of the conference room in the direction of their desks, both wanting to leave the office early that afternoon, but for entirely different reasons.

Dave casually kissed his fiancé before following his colleagues out, though he headed to his own office next to Aaron's. He gave the younger man a nod on the way out, indicating a conversation in the close future, but was gone quickly.

"Is there anything I need to know, Hotch," JJ asked carefully. Though they had been close friends for years, only Emily and Dave could really read their stoic boss properly.

"Congratulations, Jennifer," he said, pulling her into a hug. "We've been waiting for this for a while."

"Thanks, Aaron," she replied, using his given name like he used hers. "So it's final, you're going to retire from active duty?"

Aaron took a step back causally and looked at her. "How did you know?"

JJ smiled. "Face it, Hotch; I knew before you knew what you were going to do. Dave's going to do something similar too; he just hasn't accepted it yet."

"Should I be worried," Hotch asked. "If both he and I leave the team, you've lost two of the best and most experienced profilers. Even though we've been together for years, you'll only really have Morgan and Reid as the senior profilers, and…"

"Hotch!" JJ interrupted. Aaron stopped ranting, and looked at his media liaison and close friend. "I'm going to marry him some time in the next year. I want to give Henry a brother or sister. Like you and Emily, I want my husband to live long enough to see our kids grow up, get married; I want to grow old with him and I want him to live long enough to meet our grandkids. There's no way we would shoot the unit in the arse by completely shifting the team dynamic, but some things just have to be done.

"I suggested he take a sabbatical for a few months in the new year so he can write a new book, so we can get married, so we can have a honeymoon without running the risk of being called in to work. For his own safety, and for my sanity, it's most likely going to happen, but on his terms. Can you understand where I'm coming from?"

Aaron nodded his head, still looking somewhat at the floor. "He wants the opportunity to watch Henry grow up into the fine man he will be, and I respect that, because in some way, it's exactly what I want too. He just doesn't make a habit of being shot often enough to seriously endanger his health like I do."

JJ laughed. "Oh, and don't we all know it. I don't know how Emily does it and manages to stay sane. If I was her, I would have broken down a long time ago."

"She takes her frustration out on me," Aaron replied quietly, and the younger woman looked up at him. "And I have to let her, or she would break, just like I have to let Dave make his own decisions, and accept them like you all accept mine, for your sake, and for the sake of your family."

JJ nodded. "Thanks Hotch," she smiled. "Keep it on the down low?"

The older man nodded in return. "Always," he answered, patting her shoulder. "Now, how about we actually do some work?"

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

By the time five pm rolled around, Emily was physically and mentally exhausted. All-day meetings with Erin Strauss were not the most interesting things to occupy her time, and her energy was seriously waning. Instead of grabbing a coffee before she left, Emily stopped in at Aaron's office, collapsing on the couch while he finished a phone call.

"So, how was it?" he asked as her replaced the handset in its cradle.

"Pure hell," Emily moaned. "I swear, if this promotion wasn't so good, and she wasn't forcing it on me, I wouldn't put myself through it. Did you know how much work goes in to scheduling one string of guest lectures for Dave? We had to get approval from so many different people in this building, and then had to do the same thing in the Hoover just to allow Dave a measly three week lecture cycle down the east coast!"

Aaron chuckled quietly as he listened to his wife rant and rave about her day, but he knew the important question to ask at the end. "Was it worth it?"

"Oh, hell yes," Emily sighed, standing up off the couch. She wandered over to his desk, placed her hands at the front of it and leaned over in his face, giving him an eyeful of her cleavage. "I can't wait for her to leave so I can do it myself."

Aaron smiled and tilted his head up to kiss her. "Shall we go home?" Emily nodded, and Aaron picked up his briefcase from behind the desk. As they were walking out of his office and he turned the lights out, he knew he had to ask another question. "When are you going to tell them?"

"When are you?" Emily asked in an equally quiet voice. "I mean, I'm being promoted above you, you're stepping down, Derek's stepping up, and the rest of the teams are being shuffled to fill the gaps. Who will lead my team with me gone?"

"Who will fill the gap Dave will leave when he announces his plan?" Aaron added as an afterthought.

"Hang on a sec," Emily stopped, pulling her husband's hand. "What's Dave going to do?"

Aaron sighed. "Shit, I wasn't supposed to say anything, but with him and JJ getting married, they both want to extend their family, give Henry a sibling or two, and Dave was going to take a leave of absence, maybe write another book, but come back for the hard cases."

"Aaron, they're all hard cases, and he's not that much older than you," Emily tried to reason. 

"Shh, honey, I know that, and I know you know that, but this is their decision, one they have to make as a couple, not only for their safety, but for Henry's too," Aaron hushed her. "Em, we all have to make hard decisions, but don't say anything until JJ approaches you, alright? She had a hard enough time telling me."

Emily nodded and sighed. "Oh, I suppose I better. Just like I better tell both teams about what will be happening with me in the near future. Are you okay with that?"

Aaron nodded himself and smiled again. "I am happy for you, Em. Now, let's get home to our children; I know both of them will be glad to see us."

At the thought of their children, Emily smiled and continued their journey to the elevator. "Jack promised me I could help him with his homework…"

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

"How did your talk with Aaron go?" Dave asked, passing JJ her glass of red wine before sitting down next to her on the comfortable couch. During the week they lived in her apartment close to Quantico, compared to his cabin on the weekend.

"He understands where we're coming from; he's definitely stepping down sometime this year, so the only thing he's really worried about is leaving the team without the level of experience you two bring," Jen explained. "That's the anxiety I understand; every time we go out on a raid, I can't help but wonder what would happen if we weren't so experienced, or if we had a different mix of skill, of personalities, of life experience, and how that would affect the team dynamic."

"Bella, you shouldn't worry about those kinds of things…"

"But I do, Dave, and you can't change that! No one can change what I feel about that! Everything's about to change, and yes it makes me anxious, knowing that you won't be the one who has my back, but at least that way I know I'll have you in my life without having to worry about you jumping in front of a bullet!" Jennifer exclaimed.

Dave sighed and sipped his wine. "Bella…"

"No Dave! Don't 'Bella' me right now! I love you too much to fight you on this! I told Hotch you'd take a sabbatical in the new year, you'd write another book, we would take our honeymoon without the risk of being called in to the office for a case! He's finally realised there's more to life than putting un-sub's behind bars, which is why he's stepping down! Maybe it's something you should consider, David, if you want to live long enough to see your son grow up!"

Dave sat in silence as his wife almost jumped up off the couch and stormed towards their office, not spilling a drop of wine the whole time. He sighed heavily. He knew he was in deep shit this time, but strangely enough, he knew his life wouldn't be the same if Jennifer changed.

Dave leaned back into the couch and downed the wine in one long gulp. He sat there for a moment, just thinking about his wife, before raising himself off the couch and walking upstairs in search of their son, Henry.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Penelope fell back on the bed, her hair fanned behind her head, breathing heavily as sweat ran down her forehead. Moments later, Derek fell down beside her, his skin equally sweaty, both of them naked on top of the sheets.

"That was some christening," Derek murmured. "Maybe we should move house more often."

Penelope snorted. "What, and have to move my entire wardrobe AND favourite possessions all over again? I don't think so mister," she bit back. "It was bad enough doing it this time."

"Maybe we'll need a bigger house one day," Derek half shrugged, as much as he could lying on top of their bed. "This is only a four bedroom house, and personally, as much as I loved growing up with two sisters, it would have been nice to even the score a little."

"So you want four kids?" Penelope asked quietly, briefly remembering the hours she spent crying in the shower earlier in the week.

Derek rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his arm, and looked into her eyes. "Baby girl, I would be happy just with you, but kids would be icing on the cake. And if it turns out we can't have kids, then maybe we can adopt kids, or become foster parents. We'll get through this, baby girl."

Penelope smiled widely. "Thanks baby."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8 (June 2012)_

Tuesday came and went without anything eventful happening; paperwork was completed, consults with other agencies and police departments across the country dealt with, and all with little fuss. By Wednesday afternoon, Emily was starting to get a little antsy. They hadn't been called on an interstate case in too long, and it was starting to worry her somewhat.

Instead of looking over agent dossier's to try and figure out who was qualified enough to replace her once she was promoted, Emily left her office, coffee cup in hand, and headed towards the conference room assigned to her BAU team. Spread out across the large table, surrounded by what looked like organised chaos, was her media liaison Mandy Waverly, a small stack of coffee cups building by her elbow.

"Your office getting a little too crowded?" Emily asked softly, trying not to startle the whirlwind. It was in vain, however, when Mandy flinched and knocked over the takeaway cups at her elbow, all landing on the floor.

"Hotch! You scared me," she breathed out. "Can I help you with something?"

Emily sat down across the table and gestured to the piles of files. "Can I help you with anything?"

Mandy looked at the stack and shrugged, nodding somewhat. "I'm trying to sort these into consults, cases you should look at, and ones that don't really need our attention at all, but I can't really focus right now."

"Well, how about you let me help you work out a system, and we go from there?" the unit chief offered.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you could be doing?" Mandy asked. "I don't want you to get into trouble with anyone…"

Emily sighed. "Mandy, there are plenty of other things I could be doing, but this, right here, is what I _want_ to be doing. We haven't had a big case since Corpus Christi and that's starting to worry me, because as much as I hate it, I know there's a case somewhere that needs our attention,"

The blonde nodded, and pulled a few cases from a pile close to her right elbow. "These ones caught my eye, but I don't know how much involvement they require."

The unit chief took the case files and opened the first one, her eyes expertly scanning the details listed. Moments later, she looked up and smiled. "You were right to set this one aside, it definitely needs our attention, but I think we could handle it over a conference call. The file is sufficiently detailed so we can give a pretty accurate profile just from this, but other than that, a follow up in a few days is all it will need."

Mandy smiled, taking the praise from her boss but not commenting on it, and returned to the greater pile she had in front of her while Emily continued to flick through the case files in her hand.

They were disturbed, however, by a blur of colours in the form of a little boy, who suddenly ran into the room and attached himself to Emily.

"Hi mommy," he said, his face muffled into her chest. Emily smiled, hugging the lump that was Jack Hotchner.

"Hey Jack-Jack," she greeted, pulling his face out of her chest. She sat the eight year old on the table in front of her, tickling him slightly as she went. "Why are you here?"

Jack shrugged. "Soccer finished early so Mitchell's mom drove me here because Amelia and Audrey are at playgroup or something, and because the nice security guard Mister Eddie knows me he gave me my tag and let me in. I came to see you because I never get to see you at work any more and I miss you!"

Emily laughed as her son finished his monologue and began tickling his ribs again, eliciting a high pitched giggle from him. She laughed along with him, and Mandy couldn't help but join them once she saw her boss loosen up just by adding the presence of her son.

"Mommy, who's that?" Jack asked in a loud whisper, gesturing over his shoulder.

Emily smiled and replied in the same tone of voice. "Her name's Mandy, she's my version of JJ. How about you give her a big hug; I think she needs it!"

Jack smiled widely and jumped off the table, only to run around to the other side of it and jump into Mandy's empty lap, effectively pushing over the pile of empty coffee cups again when she jumped.

"Mandy, why are you sad?" Jack asked innocently, the way only kids could. The woman smiled. Maybe, just maybe, her day would get better from then on.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Aaron sighed heavily, dropping his head into his hands. He still needed to tell Morgan and the team about his plans, and he knew he had to do it soon, before they found out from someone else, namely Strauss. The appearance of the 'Transfer to Inactive Duty' paperwork in his inbox served as the inspiration.

Sighing again, he picked up his desk phone and dialled Dave's extension, letting him know that he wanted everyone in his office in ten minutes, and asked him to pass the message on. Then, he called Garcia, personally inviting her, before dialling his wife's extension.

"Hotchner," she answered business as usual.

"Hey Em, I just wanted to let you know that I'm telling the team in ten," he said softly, trying not to let his voice betray his emotions.

"Okay," she replied softly, packing up the file in front of her. "I'll be up in a minute. Do you want me to bring Jack too?"

Aaron perked up a little. "Jack's here?"

"Uh huh," Emily responded. "Soccer finished early so Mitchell's mom brought him here."

"Where are Amelia and Audrey?"

"Playgroup, Aaron, where they go every Wednesday afternoon," Emily laughed. "Do you want me to bring him or leave him with someone for a while? He made nice with Mandy not so long ago, and I think she deserves a break."

"Alright," Aaron sighed. "Jack can stay with her until we finish, but after that someone's going to 'nap him for some spoiling."

Emily laughed again. "Okay, I'll head up now. Bye," she said as she hung up the phone. She looked at her son, who was sitting at her coffee table, drawing randomly on some paper, and picked up the box of emergency crayons she kept on her desk for times like these. "Hey Jack, how would you like to spend some more time with Mandy?"

The little boy beamed at his mother and jumped up, abandoning whatever he was doing, and ran back towards the conference room they were in before.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

"Do you know why we've been called in for a meeting?" Derek asked, waiting for Penelope to cross the bullpen.

"I have no idea," Reid commented. "It could have something to do with the way he's been acting the past few days, or a follow up in regards to the shooting at Jack's school."

"Or maybe, he'd want you to stop speculating and go in his damn office," Emily announced, coming up to stand behind them and lean on her husband's office door.

"Em!" Penelope was surprised to see her. "Do you know what the boss-man's up to?"

Emily just smiled and opened the door. "Why don't you go in and find out."

They all looked at her strangely, now unaccustomed to seeing her in their bullpen, but followed her into their unit chief's office. Emily sat on the corner of Hotch's desk, and the remainder of the team fell into chairs surrounding them, with Morgan and Rossi leaning against furniture.

"So, are you gonna tell us?" Garcia broke the uncomfortable silence, and Hotch smiled slightly. "Or do we have to guess?"

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Amelia looked up from the magazine she was reading as one SUV pulled into the driveway, followed closely by another and parked side-by-side. The garage was becoming somewhat redundant now that both Aaron and Emily Hotchner had company-issue vehicles, but she knew in the upcoming months that would change.

She watched as Emily pulled Jack from the back seat of her SUV while Aaron locked the gate, and all three walked to the side door together. Jack ran in first, throwing his schoolbag on the floor under a chair, before running out of the kitchen, presumably on the way to the toilet. Aaron was carting his soccer gear, and both he and his wife looked a little worse for wear as they sat down at the breakfast bar with her.

"I gather you told them?" It was half a question, half a statement.

Aaron nodded. "We told my team, the family. To say they were shocked is putting it mildly."

Emily scoffed and took her jacket off, slinging it over the back of her stool. "I haven't heard Garcia go off like that in a long time, and I thought Morgan was going to explode when you told him he was being promoted without his knowledge."

"I thought that was the purpose of a promotion?" Amelia said, switching on the coffee pot. "Are they not supposed to be a surprise?"

"Apparently not," Aaron said, also removing his jacket. "Dave only stood there with a smirk on his face while JJ tried her best to look surprised; apparently she knew it was coming."

"Oh, don't be so naive, Aaron, they all knew it was coming," Amelia chastised him. "What did Spencer have to say?"

"Surprisingly, he wished me all the best, and hoped that we wouldn't lose touch," Aaron admitted.

"Dropping my bombshell didn't help though," Emily added. She heard Jack making his way back to the kitchen and stared at the doorway. "Stop right there, mister."

The boy looked up to his mother with a sheepish look on his face. "Yes, mommy?"

"What did we tell you about running in the house?"

"Not to."

"And what were you doing?"

"Running in the house," he admitted sheepishly. "But only because I needed to pee, and then I changed out of my dirty clothes and put my play clothes on like you told me too!"

"And exactly where did you leave those clothes?"

Jack looked down to the floor and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Pardon?"

"I said, on the floor of my bedroom."

"And is that where they belong?"

"No, mommy."

"Well, go put them away, and then make sure your sister's awake please. I'm sure there's enough time before dinner for you two to play, just as long as you do so quietly."

Jack's face broke out in a smile, and he turned around quickly, heading back towards his room. Emily sighed when she heard his feet hurrying up the stairs and running through the corridor of the second floor of their house. "He's never going to learn, is he?"

"Not until he hurts himself," Amelia agreed, shaking her head.

Emily sighed. "Well, getting back to my story, let's just say when I told them about my promotion, none of them were expecting it and I was met with initial silence. It was so quiet I swear you could have heard a proverbial pin drop, but it actually scared me. They've never been this quiet before, when we've dropped a bombshell like that."

"It scares you," Amelia said it succinctly.

Aaron nodded. "They always have something to say, no matter the subject, and Emily tells them that not only is Strauss, the woman who's been against us for years, moving out of the building, but the woman we all love is being promoted to her position, and they have nothing to say. It's unnerving, to say the least," he finished.

From the baby monitor sitting on the kitchen bench, they all listened as Jack gently woke his baby sister, and the fifteen month old babbled happily. Emily especially smiled when Jack told Audrey about her bringing him home, and the baby giggled "Mommy" happily.

"This is why I've finally given up my office," Aaron almost whispered as they all listened to the children playing. "To make sure I get to see them grow up, to fulfil Haley's promise."

It was the first time Aaron had mentioned his ex-wife's name in a while, but for the first time, mentioning Haley didn't stir up any guilt in either him or his current wife. They had long since accepted the circumstances surrounding her untimely death, but the event was one which allowed their family to come together and grow.

Amelia stood up from her stool and walked to the oven, opening the door to pull out the lasagne she had made earlier that was now cooked. "Ready for dinner?"

* * *

**The interaction between Jack and Emily in the kitchen is actually one of my favourite scenes... Please let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the reviews for the last leave one here on your way out!  
**

**You can also follow me on twitter, emmabearasaurus**

_Chapter 9 (June 2012)_

"Well, I didn't see that one coming," JJ commented, nursing a drink in one hand and her cell phone in the other. "How could she keep this a secret from me for so long?"

Derek sat next to her at the bar, nursing his own drink, with Penelope on his other side, and Reid next to her; Rossi was on the other side of his fiancé, the bottle of scotch close by.

"I don't think anyone saw it coming," Derek added. "We were surprised enough when Strauss promoted Emily the first time, and now she's making Emily her replacement."

"At least we're finally getting rid of the devil," JJ added, sipping from the glass again. "Strauss has been after Hotch's head for years, and now she's being moved."

"Whose idea was that anyway, to move her out?" Morgan asked.

"Apparently it came from higher up," Rossi injected. Penelope scoffed, and everyone looked to her. "Do you know something we don't?"

The analyst smiled and bowed her head slightly, causing her red hair to bounce with the movement. "You forget who you're speaking to, boss man; I know everything."

"Are you gonna tell us, baby girl?"

Penelope shrugged. "I was sworn to secrecy not to tell you that Strauss has been offered a better place elsewhere by the Bureau, and also promised not to mention that Emily's extensive net of contacts and proven leadership skills were part of earned her the position. Apparently she was given no choice in the matter."

They sat in silence for another few moments, each losing themselves in their thoughts and their alcohol.

"Was the position forced on her?" Rossi asked quietly, knowing it was the question rolling through their heads anyway.

"She accepted it, didn't she?" Reid whispered. "Emily's our new Section Chief, and we didn't say anything when she told us."

"We just stood there like stunned mullets then walked out without saying anything; anyone who was watching would think that we just got in trouble or something," Morgan muttered.

"Anyone who was watching and knew what we were talking about would have thought we didn't support her decision," JJ countered.

They sat there in silence for a while longer, individually sipping their drinks and lost in their own thoughts until the bartender announced the last call.

Rossi silently picked up the tab and they all left the bar, eventually leaning on a railing outside.

"Do you guys want to come back to ours for a nightcap?" JJ asked, grabbing Dave's hand. The other three nodded and hey all headed for the SUV in the parking lot, only to realise all of them were too intoxicated to drive.

"Need a cab?"

They turned around, not so surprised to see the bartender hanging out the door, a cordless phone in his hand. JJ smiled at the man and nodded, watching him return his attention to whoever was on the other end of the line. "One will be here in a few minutes; if you leave your keys with me I'll have a driver take the vehicle wherever you want."

Dave smirked slightly, the man really had thought of everything, and pulled the keys from his pocket. He gave the man the address of the FBI parking garage, not comfortable giving his address out to strangers, and thanked him kindly.

"No worries, sir; this happens more often than I'd care to admit. I just like to make sure my patrons get home safely," he responded.

"Thanks again," Dave called out, heading towards the taxi that had just pulled up. The bartender was smart enough to call for a larger one; the cab that arrived could easily fit the five of them comfortably.

The journey was one spent in comfortable silence, as everyone was once again lost in their thoughts. Penelope, Derek and Spencer all looked in awe at the surrounding houses on the way to Dave's 'modest mansion' in the suburbs, and were very surprised when they pulled up outside a massive three storey house on a large block.

Even though it was close to 1 in the morning, with the light from the moon, they could see the white pillars and welcoming yard, the front door illuminated by a soft porch light.

"Sweets, where's Henry tonight?" Penelope asked as they walked through the small pedestrian gate, along the paved path to the front door.

"The housekeeper is looking after him," JJ shrugged.

"You have a housekeeper?" Derek asked.

Dave nodded. "How else would I keep this place taken care of, let alone myself, Jen and Henry? Natalia is excellent at her job and cooks wonderful meals for us. She makes great pancakes if you're up for some come breakfast."

The front door opened before anyone could answer, and an older, petite Hispanic woman appeared in the doorway.

"Ah, Mister David, Miss Jennifer, you're home. Young Master Henry has been asleep for hours, but he was reluctant to go down without you saying goodnight," she greeted. Dave led them into the house, placing his own coat in the closet before taking JJ's for her. "And I see you have brought guests; I assume they are staying tonight?"

Dave nodded. "Natalia, this is Penelope Garcia, Derek Morgan and Doctor Spencer Reid; guys, our housekeeper, Natalia," he made the introductions. The three shook her hand politely, and she smiled. "Guys, the guest rooms are this way and the bathroom's down the hall. I think we should hit the sack so we don't look so bad in the morning."

They agreed readily and followed their host; JJ had already disappeared upstairs to check on her son before going to bed. Even though they had consumed about half a bottle of alcohol each, surprisingly enough none of them were overly tired, though they all knew if they didn't get to sleep soon, nothing good would come of it.

"Natalia, make sure you have the coffee pot full when we drag ourselves down in the morning," JJ requested quietly, stepping out of Henry's room. "We're going to need it in the morning, more than you know."

The Hispanic woman smiled and nodded, and JJ did the same. They walked down the hallway, JJ stepping through a doorway first. "Goodnight, Natalia."

"Goodnight, Miss Jennifer, sleep well."

JJ smiled again as she closed the door behind her, ready to sleep off the alcohol for work the next day.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

6am rolled around way too quickly for Dave's liking. He heard Natalia pottering around in the hallway preparing for Henry to go to preschool and for them and the team to shower before work.

"Dave, you're thinking too loud," JJ muttered from his chest, which she was using as a pillow. "Go back to sleep."

"Bella, we need to get up. We have to go to work," he tried to reason. She just groaned and muttered something unintelligibly into his skin, not moving. "Bella, we can take Henry to school if you want," he tried again.

This time, JJ rolled over and all but fell off the bed. "Fine, you win, I'm up," she complained, reaching for her robe. "I'm gonna need coffee and aspirin before anything happens. Now, can you please excuse me while I shower, and don't even think of following me, Rossi; I'm not in the mood."

Dave sighed. "Fine, I'll see you in the kitchen." JJ just flapped a hand behind her as she stumbled into the ensuite, and Dave sighed again.

A few minutes later, Dave was sitting on a stool downing his painkillers with coffee, his body barely covered, when Penelope stumbled in.

"Coffee," she moaned, heading straight for the pot before anything else. She grabbed a waiting mug and poured it in, savouring the smell before taking the first sip.

"There's some aspirin over here," Dave mentioned, starting to read the morning paper.

"Oh, thank you god," she gushed, sitting down.

Dave smiled into his coffee cup but didn't comment. "Where's Morgan and Reid?" he asked.

"Last I saw, they were fighting for the bathroom like children. Derek can't function without a hot shower in the morning, and Pretty Boy Reid apparently needs hot water to wake up his brain. It's only after an hour locked away can they face the thought of coffee."

"You know, its kind of scary how much you know about those two," JJ commented as she waltzed in, moments later followed by her son.

Penelope shrugged. "Sugar, you know it's true. Hi Henry!"

"Good morning Aunt Penny," the child answered politely, climbing onto a stool next to his mother. "Why are you here?"

"Well," she began sheepishly. "Your mommy and daddy took your Uncle Derek, Uncle Spencer and I out last night, and we stayed over…"

"Because you were drunk?"

JJ laughed, Dave snorted into his coffee and Penelope looked shocked at his comment.

"Honey, we were all drunk," JJ continued to laugh. "Your daddy and I thought it would be safer if everyone came here and then we went to work together, so nobody would get hurt. Is that okay with you?"

Henry paused for a moment before nodding. "Can I have a pancake please?" he asked, throwing the topic out.

JJ smiled, crisis averted for the moment. "Sure you can, baby, have as many as you like."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Emily and Aaron arrived at the office a little earlier than usual that morning, leaving Audrey and Jack in Amelia's capable hands, to see what state their co-workers would be arriving in.

"They probably spent until last call at a bar talking and drinking," Emily smiled, making herself comfortable in her husband's leather chair. "Before taking one cab to Dave's place and crashing there, like we've done many times before; it's what we do after big news like this."

"I'm just looking forward to messing with their hungover heads," Aaron shrugged, bringing out his dimples for the first time that day.

"You're planning something," Emily accused with a smile; Aaron shrugged, not bothering to hide the ill-often seen dimples. "Can I help?"

They both looked to the bullpen as they heard a loud thump; evidently one of their team had stumbled into something in their post-alcohol induced haze, and they were swearing loudly as a result.

"Holy mother of…"

"Dave!"

Emily sniggered as JJ scolded him; it was then she saw five year old Henry walk in between Penelope and Derek, which explained why the woman stopped the impending curse.

"Aunty Emmy!" Henry yelled, running up the stairs to greet the woman with a hug. "Did you bring Jack? I haven't seen him in _ages_!"

JJ laughed at her son. "Honey, you saw Jack yesterday!"

"He's already at school, which is where you should be," Emily told him, bending down to give him a hug.

"Mommy and daddy told me to say they're sorry for the way they acted when you told everyone you were p'moted, and they wanted to make it up to you," Henry rambled cutely.

Emily smiled, hugging the young boy to her chest from her crouched position. "That's very nice of you to tell me, baby, but I need to hear it from your mommy and daddy for it to mean anything, alright?"

Henry smiled and hugged her again before running back to his parents, who had heard the conversation. Emily shot them a quick smile before kissing her husband quickly and walking off towards her own office, leaving half the team stunned behind her.

As she walked through the doors exiting their bullpen, she smiled evilly to herself. Screwing with her hungover friends was always so much fun.


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy New Year everyone! Before we get started, I'd like to thank you for waiting, if anyone is still reading this, and ask is there anything you'd like to see. I'm planning on wrapping it up at the end of 2012 (in the story time-frame) and continuing the sequel in 2013... Also, please review. I'm feeling a little lonely and unloved :(**

**As usual, I don't own this. And I've only seen the first four episodes of Season Six. How sad is that?  
**

_Chapter 10 (June 2102)_

It was hard for Emily to avoid her closest friends for any length of time, but almost four days after telling them about her coming promotion, they were still not talking to each other. Occasionally, JJ and Penelope would send messages through Aaron or the kids, if it was important, but otherwise they maintained communication silence.

By Friday afternoon, Emily had had enough. She was frustrated enough with her own team and training with Strauss she just snapped.

Storming down the corridor between her current bullpen and her old bullpen, she slammed open the door to their conference room and immediately drew their attention.

"Ok, I've had enough!" she started. "I'm being promoted, not transferred to another state, to another unit even, so for god's sake suck it up and get over it. If anything, you'll see me more, and the unit will be better off without the iron fist we're used to!

"We're supposed to be a family, and now we're reduced to communicating through Jack and Henry! I don't care if you don't support my decision, it was my choice to make, and if you want me to, I'll pass the repercussions on to you, and trust me, they won't be pleasant or appreciated!"

She paused to take a breath, and took in the shocked faces before her. "Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

She was met with silence for a moment before Reid answered. "Em, we were planning a surprise party for you tonight," he whispered.

It was Emily's turn to stand there like a stunned mullet. "Damn it!" she shrieked, before storming back out, presumably on the way back to her office, but not before bumping her hip into a railing on her way.

The team looked back at each other, all half in shock.

"Well, that went well," JJ deadpanned. "How do you think she'll take Pepper?"

Hotch smiled. "She'll love her, and she'll be so embarrassed you'll end up rolling on the floor laughing."

Dave smiled. "To what extent are we talking about, with the embarrassment?"

"Oh, I'm talking red face, reduced to stuttering, tantrum throwing embarrassment," Penelope laughed. "I've seen it before, only once, but it will be worth it once she sees Pepper and the kids' faces."

"It better be," Reid winced. "Otherwise, she'll never talk to us again."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

When Emily woke up on Saturday morning, she was almost dreading the day ahead, and the not-so-surprise party she was expecting. Going through the motions of her morning routine, her mind was elsewhere, focusing less on washing her hair and more on her seemingly-backstabbing friends.

Stepping out of her bedroom close to an hour later, Emily headed downstairs. It was the morning of her forty-second birthday, but like the previous year, Emily felt no different age-wise. Instead, she chose to focus more on how different her life had become since joining the BAU, and every other important milestone since then.

She entered the kitchen and wasn't surprised to see Amelia in there, feeding something looking suspiciously like muesli to Audrey. Jack and Aaron were nowhere to be seen, although both of them had obviously risen before her.

"Morning Amelia," she greeted, heading directly for the coffee maker. "Morning, baby," she greeted her daughter on the way, stopping to kiss the fifteen month old on the forehead as she passed. Audrey giggled and threw the muesli up in the air before mashing it into her hair.

Amelia shook her head. "She does this every morning," she apologised. "But if I don't give her muesli she refuses to eat anything else."

Savouring the smell of caffeine, Emily smiled. "Well, she definitely gets her stubbornness from me, and the healthy eating from her father. When I was a kid, I would eat ice cream for breakfast if I could scam it out of the cooks, but mostly I would settle for chocolate chip pancakes. We had this chef in Moscow who would make the best ones, and I've never had ones as good since then."

The nanny smiled, and dropped the now-empty bowl into the sink before heading back over to the baby. "You, missy, need a bath," she said, wiping her face and hands and removing the cloth bib from around her neck. She turned around to face Emily. "Would you like to do it? I know you hardly ever get a chance now, and she's growing up so fast."

Emily smiled widely. "Thanks, Amelia. I think it's just what I need after the week I've had. A little mommy and me time, huh baby?"

Audrey smiled widely and clapped her hands again, still refusing to swallow the last mouthful, as if she was savouring the taste.

"Now now, missy, you need to swallow that before anything happens," she said, teaching the toddler basic table manners. Both women watched as Audrey grudgingly downed the muesli and smiled when she immediately began singing.

Emily pulled her out of the high chair and headed back upstairs to wash her very messy daughter, shouting a thank you over her shoulder to the grateful nanny.

Once the pair were safely ensconced in the upstairs bathroom, Amelia opened the kitchen door leading to the garage. "It's safe to come in now," she said to the group gathered inside. "Emily's just gone to bathe the baby; she should be a good thirty minutes at least, especially if Audrey's feeling playful."

JJ, at the front of the group, smiled her thanks. "Where should we set up?"

"In the backyard; she can't see it from where she's currently hanging out, and if you're lucky, she won't see you on her way down. I'd help, but the little bugger made a hell of a mess this morning."

Dave smiled. "No problem; Henry did the same thing, if not worse. I don't know what we'd do without Natalia, just like I don't know what Aaron and Emily would do without you."

"Probably starve and live in a pigsty with two screaming children," Penelope added enthusiastically. She walked in carrying a large box full of party supplies, and Derek followed her carrying an even bigger box. "There's still more to come," she gestured with her shoulder. "There's a box or two still in the boot if you get the chance."

Amelia smiled. "Emily's going to kill you all when she finds out."

"Emily's going to kill me first after she finds out what I've done to help them," Aaron announced, walking into the kitchen, Jack not far behind.

"Did you get Pepper?"

The older man smiled. "Yep, and everything she'll ever need. Jack's even promised to keep the secret from her, haven't you buddy."

The little boy nodded and smiled widely, not saying anything.

"I'm pretty sure he's not going to say anything, lest he spoil the surprise," Amelia laughed.

"I think you're right," JJ interrupted, walking in to the kitchen. "Jack, Henry's in the living room; could you keep him out of trouble until I come back?"

The younger Hotchner smiled and jumped up and down, running off to play with his best friend, leaving his aunts and uncles to set up the party for Emily.

Slowly, they trickled back into the heart of the house, and immediately Penelope bounced on Aaron.

"So, can we see her?" she begged, jumping up and down like Jack. "Can we see Pepper?"

Aaron shrugged, exchanging silent communication with Amelia, before turning back to the connecting door and opening it slowly.

Before they could prepare themselves, an overexcited bundle of black fur bound in, jumping up and down in between the adults.

"What is it?" JJ laughed, patting the overly furry head.

"Pepper is a standard poodle," he began.

Penelope snorted. "You can't be serious?"

"Well," he continued. "Emily is allergic to cats, and they shed hair. Poodles are one of the few breeds of dog that don't shed hair, and contrary to popular belief, they are actually one of the smarter breeds as well."

"But I thought poodles were supposed to have those weird fluffy hairstyles?" JJ said, still patting the puppy's topknot.

Aaron shook his head. "That style's mainly for show dogs; poodles just need to have their coats sheared every six to eight weeks." He took a step back to watch as the group of adults fawned over the puppy and smiled.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps racing across the landing above them, and the screams of a little girl running away from her mother, and all of them sprang into action.

Aaron and JJ herded the dog back into her box in the garage while Penelope, Derek, Spencer and Dave hurried back outside and Amelia returned to cooking.

Aaron sat down hurriedly, trying to calm his features, while JJ ended up back in the living room with their sons, trying to keep them entertained but not loud.

"Aaron?" Emily called, coming back downstairs. "When did you get back?" She let Audrey drop to the floor, and immediately the toddler headed for the nearest stash of toys – the living room.

"Not long after you took the baby upstairs," Amelia said, pulling various instruments out of the kitchen cupboards. "Now, I'll be baking in here for a while, and I don't need any fingers appearing in the mixing bowl, so shoo!"

Aaron and Emily shared a look and shrugged. Amelia didn't do this often, but when she did, they knew they were banished to the backyard.

"After you, Mrs Hotchner," Aaron said, waving his arm to lead her outside.

"Thank you, Mr Hotchner," she smiled, taking his outstretched hand.

Amelia giggled into the cake mix, but didn't stop what she was doing. The birthday cake she was making for her boss was going to be a big one.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

As they approached the glass sliding doors leading to the back deck, Emily gasped as Aaron wrapped his hands around her eyes.

"What are you going?" she asked, grabbing his hands with hers.

He held his hands tightly over her eyes and whispered in her ears. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, of course," she replied. "But why?"

"Do you trust me?" he repeated.

This time Emily simply nodded and he began leading her towards the doors, ignoring her protests. She listened to him slide the door open before stepping over the threshold, and once the sun hit her face, Aaron removed his hands.

"SURPRISE!"


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is personally one of my favourites, and I really like this one. Sorry for not updating in a while. It also marks the last of the pre-written chapters. I have four other Castle fics on the go, plus this one and The Family Scrapbook (and associated challenge pieces which go inside it), so updates may be even slower.**

**Please leave me a review on the way out. I'd like to know if people are still reading this :s  
**

_Chapter 11 (June 2012) _

Though she was somewhat expecting it, the shock still hit her.

Emily stepped over the threshold and was greeted by her family and friends; the entire BAU team, including Henry, her parents, for some strange reason, Aaron's parents, Aaron's brother Sean and his new wife Stephanie, Erin and Robert Strauss, and, of course, Jack and Audrey.

"Happy Birthday Em," Aaron whispered into her ear as she pressed back against him. "Also, congratulations on your promotion."

Emily smiled ear to ear; glad her family was there to celebrate with her. Jack, Henry and Audrey were wearing stupid hats but having the time of their lives, and the adults were acting mostly the same.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they screamed together, laughing their heads off at the same time. To Emily, her guests were acting like they had hit the alcohol early. Erin Strauss and Elizabeth Prentiss seemed to be the only restrained and responsible adults at the party, and Emily wanted to take full advantage of the situation.

"Thanks!" she called loudly, throwing her hands, and inhibitions, in the air, joining her friends, who were also in possession of the alcohol.

"Na, ah, sweetcheeks, presents first," Penelope snatched the bottle of beer from Emily's hand. "I wanna see what Boss-man got you!"

Emily smiled widely and squealed. "Presents? I haven't had birthday presents since I was a teenager!"

"And for good reason!" Morgan called back in a teasing voice. Emily poked her tongue out at him, and let Henry and Jack tackle the man to the ground.

"Your first present is in the garage, Em," Aaron announced. Their family waited with bated breath, with the exception of the playing children, as she headed over to the door which would lead her to said garage.

"What is it?" she asked curiously. Aaron shrugged, giving her a 'Wait and see' look. She grumbled at him before opening the door, and was immediately bowled over by a big ball of black fur. "What the hell?"

Aaron laughed as the dog pushed her to the ground. "Sweetheart, this is Pepper. She's a purebred Standard Poodle, totally hypoallergenic, doesn't shed hair, and is very friendly."

Though she hugged the dog from her position on the ground, and she had a look of sheer happiness on her face, Emily couldn't help but shoot Aaron a death glare before rubbing her silky smooth ears. Someone else snapped a photo of the two before passing another round of beer to those who were empty-handed, easily splitting off into the groups they were comfortable in.

Aaron shook his head as the ladies started drinking from the bottle, Emily's presents abandoned for the time being, as they were finally allowed to let loose and party.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Several hours later, Amelia brought the massive chocolate cake, iced and decorated, into the living room and placed it on the coffee table. It was conveniently the only empty space in the whole room; every other potentially empty space was taken up by beer bottles, wrapping paper or drunk family members.

"Birthday cake!" she called over the conversations. Emily popped her head out of the group she was currently occupied by, obviously drunk, and shooshed everyone dramatically.

"First, shut the hell up, the kids are asleep," she whispered loudly, waving her hands in the air and sloshing beer out of the bottle all over her hand. "Second, Amelia has been baking this monstrosity for most of the day, so sing then help me eat it."

Audrey, Jack and Henry had been put up to bed hours ago, but Amelia had been periodically checking on them; she was one of the few completely sober adults in the house, therefore totally responsible for the kids. Emily's parents, Aaron's parents and the Strauss' had left not long after dark, leaving the 'younger' generation to party on.

Even though they were drunk, more drunk than they had been for a while, both Emily and JJ knew they had to keep everyone under control, lest they disrupt the kids' sleeping patterns. It was bad enough they were all sleeping in a house full of obviously drunk government employees, not to mention the noise that was escaping from the living room.

Suddenly, a black bundle of fur jumped on the couch, right on top of Garcia's lap, and the blonde squealed. "Pepper! What are you doing?"

The dog jumped from person to person, bouncing on the couches, and various body parts of the team, obviously excited that someone had let her in to join the party. Rossi, obviously a lover of dogs, scratched between the fluffy poodle's ears when she reached him, and the puppy settled down on his lap, also spreading over on JJ where she was sitting next to her partner.

Emily, watching her new puppy make herself at home, started laughing uncontrollably when JJ and Dave realised the dog had… passed wind… on their laps. Moments later, once everyone else had also realised what Pepper had done, they too started laughing, with the exception of the couple said poodle was comfortable on. Pepper looked mighty pleased with herself, as much as puppies could, and started licking Dave's face excitedly.

"Pepper!" Dave laughed, trying to push the dog away from him. "Pepper, go away!" Everyone else continued to laugh as the dog once again jumped all over him and JJ, the alcohol in their systems making everything seem even funnier.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Amelia picked her way through the passed out adults littered around the living room floor, the older woman trying to clean up around them without disturbing their drunken slumbers. It was just before five am, the sun was close to rising, and she knew Audrey was due to wake up within the next half hour. She grabbed the various beer bottles, abandoned plastic plates and birthday cake, and threw them into the trash bag she was hauling around with her. Who knew a bunch of thirty- to forty- somethings could make such a mess… they were about as bad as a bunch of college students on spring break.

One of them moaned loudly and Amelia stopped, trying to avoid waking them for as long as possible. She sighed with relief when the offending drunk rolled over and continued to sleep, while she continued to clean up after them.

"'Melia?"

The nanny/housekeeper turned around quickly, and saw Jack standing at the bottom of the stairs. His hair was a mess, his eyes half open, his pyjamas in shambles, his beloved, ratty teddy bear firmly secured under one arm. "Good morning, Jack. Did you sleep well?"

The boy nodded and rubbed his face with his free hand. "Pepper slept in my room with me and Henry," he announced softly, his voice still tinged with sleep. "She protected us and kept us safe." The eight year old was proud of his parent's choice of pet, and wanted to let everyone know.

"That's nice, sweetie, but Pepper can't sleep in your room every night," Amelia told him, making her way back through the passed out adults. "Are Henry or Audrey awake yet? I need to know what you guys want for breakfast."

"Can we have choc'late chip pancakes, please?" he asked. "They're Henry's fave'rite, and Mommy likes to eat them after she's been drinking."

Amelia tried not to laugh at the innocent little boy's observation of his mother; the fact that he knew her hangover food was amazing. "Sure, sweetie, I'll make lots so everyone can pig out."

"Can I have fruit pancakes pwease 'Melia?" Henry asked, appearing at the top of the stairs, Pepper nuzzling his hand. "I like them too, and so does Mommy when she can."

"What does mommy like?" JJ asked from the floor. She was leaning against the wall pulling her clothes out of various orifices. "Amelia, I think I may still be just a little drunk."

"Well it's a good thing today's Sunday then."


End file.
